The Smallest Straw Hat
by pikaace
Summary: Being a pirate is no easy feat. Especially if you're an amnesiac Pikachu with nowhere to go and no clue of who you really are or where you came from. That's me, by the way. Luckily, that's what the Straw Hats are for, and I have a feeling I'm going to experience adventure and danger like no other. And maybe, along the way, I can find my way home...wherever home is.
1. Awakening

**ONE PIECE IS EATING MY MIND PLEASE SEND HELP!**

 **Okay but in all seriousness, this story has been roaming around in my head for a LONG time and I know I'm not the only one who's thought of it. If you want another rendition of a Pikachu joining the Straw Hats, I recommend the story 'Of Mice and Pirates' by Firetrail. It has great potential!**

 **And before I forget, this Pikachu is NOT the same one from 'Lightning Warrior'. This one will have a different personality, move set, and backstory. Just so you're not confused.**

 **Also I would like to thank the late story 'Pika Pika what?' by an author who's name I don't remember for inspiring this story out of me! I wish that story was still with us... anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

I blink as the sun beats down on me. The first thing I register is that I'm stiff and lying on something hard and sturdy. I'm not in any real pain, my body is just asleep. I close my eyes from the sun and turn onto my stomach before slowly getting myself onto my four legs. My head felt a bit heavy so I didn't want to risk standing up on two legs.

As I stand and clear my head, I can't help but feel like something is missing. I check myself over to make sure everything is still there. All four paws, yellow fur, ears, tail, all there. I have no injuries anywhere so that's a good sign. But there's still something missing...but what? And for that matter, what even happened to me and where am I?

I'm on some kind of dock, but I turn around and a building towers above me. I step back a bit and realize it's a boat. A stationary boat; guess it wasn't made for sailing anymore. I see the name Baratie painted on the side; not the strangest name I've seen for a ship. Well, better explore the new environment.

I walk around on the dock and can't help but feel like something's wrong. I still have no clue how I had ended up here; I'm drawing a complete blank. I feel...out of place so to speak, like a misplaced toy. Maybe it's because this place is so huge and I was so small. In a place this big I'll be lucky if I don't run into any-

"That was delicious!" "Yes, this place is amazing!"

 _Humans!_

I scramble out of the way as I'm nearly stepped on by a couple exiting the boat. They both look down at me, intrigue in their eyes. "What is that?" The lady asks.

"I don't know, some kind of mouse?" The man responds with a shrug. The lady takes a step towards me but I'm not planning to stick around.

I dash around them and through the doorway they came out of and skid to a halt. This whole place is crawling with humans! Granted, I'm a bit excited since I've never seen humans up close before, but I wasn't ready for this many! They were so much bigger than me, who knew what they could do to me!

Surprisingly, no one really makes a fuss about my entrance. I get a few glances, but no one questions it. I awkwardly walk through the place, keeping my head low but senses on high. Unknown territory was never fun for a small creature like me. My nose twitches as an aroma suddenly fills my nose. I close my eyes take a deep breath of the scent; it's the most amazing smell ever!

I finally take note of all the tables around me and the different but delicious scents coming from each one. This must be a place that served food! I hadn't realized before, but I was pretty hungry. In fact, I was starving; when did I last eat? I follow the smell and scamper up the spiral staircase in the middle of the restaurant, careful to avoid any feet coming my way. I think I freaked a few people out when I rushed past them, but only a little, none of them threw a fit.

I finally find the main source of the smell and slink inside the constantly swinging double doors. I hug the wall as I realize how narrow this place is. The cooks were constantly moving, so sneaking through wasn't going to be easy. However, luck graces me as a chef places a full plate of food on the counter right above me. From the smell it's freshly made and boy was it making me drool. Well, it was now or never.

I glance around to make sure no one's looking in my direction, and honestly, with how busy these guys are, I'm not that worried. I jump and grab the counter with my front paws and hoist myself halfway up. I almost drool at the sight of steamy food in front of me and quickly grab a piece of the food. I drop back down to the floor, nestling myself in the corner of the counter and the wall and being chowing down.

I finish the piece in seconds, savoring its amazing flavor and texture; I had no idea human food could taste this good! Aching for more, I grab onto the counter again and grab another piece off the plate.

"Hey!" I flinch and drop the food I was holding as everyone in the kitchen is staring at me. Crap, I was caught. "What the hell is that thing?!"

"Is that a rat?"

"It's eating the food!"

"That was a perfect dish!"

"Who cares what it is!" I look up as a tall muscular man with aqua hair and a headband approaches me. "Don't just stand there, get this pest out of our restaurant!"

Well I was in trouble now. I slip off the counter and immediately bolt out of the kitchen only to hear footsteps behind me. "Get back here, rat!" I scurry down the stairs with an army of angry chefs right behind me. I glance back at them and squeak in fear as all of them were armed with knives or some other sharp instrument. All of the people eating quickly move to get out of harm's way as I run under tables and chairs, hearing thunks as knives are embedded in the ground right behind me.

The surprising thing was that the chefs were plowing through anything just to get to me including tables; weren't the people eating there? I guess they were trying to give me less places to hide. Well that doesn't bug me cause I'm way too fast for these guys anyway; they can't even get within a few feet of me! My eyes widen as something large and meaty grabs my tail and yanks me into the air. I squeal in pain as I hang upside down looking right into the muscular guy's face who led the attack against me. "Gotcha! Stupid rodent!"

"Nice one Patty!" A guy with dark glasses cheers. The man, Patty, laughs which causes me to swing.

I growl. "Pika…!" _'That **hurts** you bastard!'_ Sparks fly from my cheeks and electricity covers Patty, making him scream in pain. Once I finish, he drops me and falls over, covered in burns. I smirk; my electric attacks were not to be messed with!

Everyone in the room is stunned by my feat. "W-What the hell…?"

"It got Patty!"

"What kind of rat is that?!"

I glance around looking for any way to escape, but that might be difficult. I was on a boat in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. I would have to find a way out of here and quick, but for now my first priority was to lose these clowns. The stairs are clear! I bound over to them when a voice booms through the air. "What the hell is going on down here?!"

I register the voice just as I slam into something hard. I shake my head from the blow and look up only to shrink away in fear. A man stares down at me with hard tiny eyes, a long braided mustache sticking out from under his nose. The thing I slammed into was his wooden peg leg. The way he's glaring at me makes me feel more small and insignificant than I already was. He reaches down and picks me up by the scruff of my neck. "Boss, wait!" The chef with dark glasses yells. "That thing is dangerous!"

"Shut up!" Boss roars. I would electrocute him, but honestly, I'm too afraid of what he'll do. Something told me that this guy wouldn't even flinch if I shocked him now. He was strong, I could feel it.

"Geez, what happened in here?" A new voice enters the area. I turn in Boss' grasp and find the source. It's a young man, wearing a nice black suit. He has blond hair, his bangs covering his left eye, and a curly eyebrow. He pulls out a lighter and lights a cigarette as he surveys the damage. "Did I miss another fight or did all the customers bail from your shitty cooking?"

I felt a smile tug at my lips as the other chefs glared at him. I spotted Patty finally recovering from my electric shock. "We've been busy with pest control idiot!" he snaps. He jabs a meaty finger at me. "This damn thing was trying to steal food!"

The blonde guy glances at me, his one eye looking me over. "Well, maybe it was hungry." I start at his comment. I wasn't expecting that to be the first thing he said about me. The blonde guy smirks. "I'm surprised it managed to stomach it; the little guy's either really brave or you're finally improving, but I wouldn't bet on the latter."

Patty looks enraged and about to explode but Boss beats him to it. "Don't you have better things to do than argue?" he demands. "You all, clean up this mess you made!" he orders the other cooks. They scurry to work under Boss' glare. He then turns to the blonde guy and practically tosses me over to him. "Sanji, you take care of this thing."

The blonde guy, Sanji, barely catches me, apparently caught off guard with the gesture. "What? What do I even do with this…" he trails off, giving me an odd look, contemplating what to call me.

Boss, however, doesn't care at all. "Cook it. Kill it. Throw it overboard. I don't care, just do something." I pale and gulp, slowly looking back at Sanji to see his reaction. His face remains the same as before so maybe that's a good sign? He finally sighs and starts back up the stairs. Wait...that's where the kitchen is! I squirm in his grasp and let out a few frightened squeals as the double doors come into view at the top.

"Calm down, will ya?" Sanji's voice suddenly rang out and I looked up at him. His face was still calm and stoic, no anger or malice whatsoever. Just what was he planning? I felt myself deflate as he walked past the kitchen and towards a long hallway. He reached a specific room at the end of the hallway and opened it, revealing a decent sized bedroom. He drops me on his bed and I bounce slightly on the soft cushion. "Try not to break anything." he says simply before shutting the door.

I sit on his bed and stare blankly at the door as I hear his footsteps get further away. So...was I safe? If he wanted to get rid of me he would have done it already, right? He wasn't going to eat me?

I looked around the room; it wasn't anything too special. It had a small bookshelf, a bathroom, a cabinet, the basic stuff. There was also a framed photo that caught my attention. It looked like a picture of Sanji and Boss, only Sanji was a kid. Was Boss his father? ...Nah, they don't resemble each other at all. I guess Sanji's been here for a long time.

I eventually spy a window. I leap up onto the windowsill and peek past the curtains. I note that the sky was turning pink; had it really been that late in the day when I woke up? My ears twitch as I hear the door open and I drop to the ground. Sanji enters, looking at me with a platter in his hands. He comes towards me and places the platter in front of me. "Here. Eat up." he says simply before sitting on his bed.

I look at the plate and recognize it; it was the same food I had stolen! It's steaming and warm, the smell tickling my nose making me smile wistfully. "You started eating it so you might as well finish it." Sanji comments, looking at me from his seat on his bed.

I lick my lips and begin eating right away. It's just as good as before. I notice that there's even a small bowl of water next to the plate. After a few minutes, the plate is licked clean and all the water is lapped up. I sigh in content; I'm glad I had a chance to eat something that amazing before I get thrown off this ship.

I look up as Sanji picks the platter up and towers above me. I never realized how tall he was. "I'll be back in a bit; again, try not to break anything, okay?" He swiftly turns and leaves, leaving me stunned again.

This guy was certainly different from the others, especially considering he went through the effort to reheat a plate of food I had eaten halfway. I notice that the sky is starting to grow darker and I let out a yawn. All the excitement had worn me out. I walk over to the bed and curl up on the end, nuzzling the soft blankets. After waking up on hard wood, this feels really nice.

I fell asleep pretty quick but I'm pretty sure I heard the door open again after an hour or two. After that, I felt someone give me a soft pat on the back. It was slow and cautious, whoever it was was probably unsure about petting me while I was asleep. After that there were no more noises and I let sleep fully take me.

* * *

 **I'm gonna answer this right now, NO, this Pikachu is not a human turned Pokémon. We will find out more about our little friend as the story progresses.**

 **And we're starting at the Baratie, because honestly, that's about where I started watching the show. I got bored at the beginning so I skipped around and when Sanji came into the picture, I was hooked. Sanji's pretty much the reason I keep watching; I love him THAT much and I know I'm not the only one who does X3**

 **Tell me what you think with reviews please!**


	2. A New Friend?

The next morning I open my eyes to sunlight streaming through the window. It takes me a minute to remember where I am; big boat, serves food, crazy cooks, fell asleep in Sanji's room. Oh, so that's where I was. I feel something shift next to me and I look through tired eyes to see Sanji just waking up as well. I rub my eyes before stretching and yawning and Sanji sits up.

I'm honestly surprised he didn't kick me out of his bed, but then again, I didn't take up that much space. Sanji gets out of bed without even sparing me a glance and goes to the bathroom. After a while he reemerged, dressed and refreshed, wearing a similar black suit like the one yesterday. He eventually noticed me staring and looked at me, "Still here?" he asks.

I give him a look. _'Where else would I be?'_

He sits down near me on the bed, "May as well get this over with," he says to himself before addressing me. "What are you?" Ah, there was the question I was waiting for.

I answer him in the only way I can. "Pikachu."

Sanji tilts his head, "So, you're a Pikachu?" he asks. "Or is that your name?"

I give a shrug. _'Both I guess._ ' Wait...that didn't sound right...Was my name my species? No...I had a name. To others, like humans, my species was my name but not to those like me. But...what was my name?

It then hits me; that thing I thought was missing...it was my mind!

My memories are a complete blank slate! My name, my home, they were gone! Hell, I couldn't even remember where 'home' was! Or even how I ended up here!

"You alright?" Sanji's voice causes me to look at him; I hadn't realized how deep in thought I was. I nod and that seems to satisfy him. "So you can understand me." he comments.

I frown and nod again; what was he implying? I wasn't some stupid animal. "Pika pika."

"Is that all you can say? Your name?" Sanji asks. I nod, inwardly sighing at all the silly questions; I didn't know humans were this curious about things. Sanji nods and takes a drag of his cigarette. "So, are you someone's pet that got lost?"

I bristle and scowl at him. "Pika pikachu!" _'I'm no one's pet!'_

Sanji held up his hands in surrender, "Okay okay, calm down." he said. "So, you're some weird yellow mouse and you don't belong to anyone-" Watch it, buddy. "-do you even have a home?"

I frown and shake my head. I guess that pretty much meant I was getting thrown out. If I belonged somewhere I probably would've had a chance to stay until my non-existent family picked me up, but that wasn't going to happen. Even though I couldn't remember, I had a gut feeling that whoever I belonged to wouldn't come looking for me anytime soon.

Sanji gets up, taking another drag, "Guess that means you're out of my hands." he says matter-of-factly. I look at him in confusion. "If you wanna leave, do it." he smirks at me. "Just don't steal from the kitchen again." I frown at him and glance look at the window. I turn back to Sanji as he exits the room. "Now, if you'll excuse me Pikachu, I've got work to do."

And with that, he exits the room. I stare at the door, still feeling a bit shocked. He really wasn't going to throw me out or eat me? I was just free to do what I pleased? But if that's the case...what can I even do? I go back over to the window and glance outside, seeing boats and ships dock with people holding umbrellas or something to block the rain, getting off and entering the restaurant.

I guess I could just hitch a ride on a boat...but where would I even go? I have no freaking idea where 'home' is or even how I got here! I try thinking back to before but all I can remember is a giant storm. Well, that certainly helps; a storm could've happened anytime!

Speaking of storms, the sky looks pretty cloudy right now...maybe I could stay here for the time being. At least until I figured out what I was going to do, and until the weather was nice enough for travel.

* * *

Ugh, I am so BORED! I've been cooped up in this room for hours and I have nothing to do! I've done everything that this little room had to offer. I explored, paced around, watched the rain fall, and even jumped on the bed. Plus, I haven't recovered any memories. I had hoped that I only had temporary amnesia, but that clearly wasn't the case.

Sanji hasn't come back into the room either; I guess he figured that I had just jumped out the window and hitchhiked onto a passing ship. Like I was gonna do that in the rain! I flop on the bed; I was pretty close to dying of boredom at this point. I grimace as my stomach growls; I'm getting pretty hungry too. Sanji's warning echoed in my head and I looked at the door.

I went up to it and gently pushed it with my paw, making it creak open. I peek out into the empty hallway and cautiously step outside Sanji's room. I smile to myself as I head towards the sounds of the restaurant's customers. Sanji said not to steal food, but he didn't say anything about staying in his room all day.

Wait, why am I even doing what he says? I'm an independant Pikachu, I can steal whenever I want! But then again, I really don't want to be chased around the restaurant with knives and cleavers again. Sanji would definitely throw me out after that, or that Boss guy would chop me up.

I creep down the hallway until I arrive at the kitchen. I hug the wall so none of the chefs entering and exiting notice me before quietly scurrying into the kitchen. I hide in the same corner as last time and peek around, trying to conceal myself as much as possible. I eventually spy Sanji near the back of the kitchen, flipping something in a frying pan. He's my best bet. He was the only chef here that gave me food so I knew he wouldn't freak out upon seeing me. Now to get over there… Long story short, it was a very stressful stealth mission involving a lot of hiding under counters and carts, but I eventually ended up in the corner on the opposite side of the kitchen, that happened to be right next to Sanji. I peek up at him and the thing that he's cooking. It looks like some kind of omelette or tortilla, but whatever it was, it was making my mouth water. There's no way I can jump up on the counter without alerting the other chefs, so I stay put. "Pika?" I ask softly.

Sanji turns slightly before doing a double take and looking at me. "What are you doing in here?" he asks. He doesn't sound panicked or annoyed, just curious. This guy was a real mystery compared to these other chefs.

I glance between him and the food in the pan making a conflicted and embarrassed expression. Basically the look said, 'I'm hungry and you told me not to steal, sooooo...'

"Hungry?" Sanji asks. I look at the ground guiltily. Sanji doesn't say anything, but goes back to finishing up the meal he's preparing. Once he piles the meal onto a plate he looks at me again, "Stay there." he says, pointing at the corner I'm hiding in. I hesitantly nod and back into the corner as far as I can while Sanji walks away. All I can do is hold my breath and wait for Sanji to return and hope that none of the other chefs see me.

Thankfully, my luck seems to turn around as Sanji is back after a few minutes. Now I feel ten times safer; Sanji is the only sane person I've met here so I'm better off sticking near him for the time being. I look up at him as he starts cooking again, but it seems to be something smaller, like soup. After a few more minutes, he takes out a bowl, puts the meal in it, and places it in front of me. "Eat up."

It _is_ soup! And Arceus, does it smell good! I immediately start digging in and Sanji crouches in front of me. "Hungry little thing, aren't you?"

Well, considering that my mind is the equivalent of an empty jar and I don't even remember when I last ate, I think I'm justified. I give him a small smile as thanks and go back to eating. After a few minutes, I've licked the bowl clean and Sanji takes it. But the minute Sanji stands up straight…

"Hey! That rat is back!"

Oh Arceus, not again…

Sanji turns towards the burly chef (His name was Patty, right?), "Relax, the little guy just wanted some food." I hide behind Sanji's legs as I can see the other chefs pulling out their knives again; did they butcher every animal that stumbled in here?

"You're letting that rodent steal food again?! You saw what that pest did yesterday!" The chef with dark glasses yells.

"It isn't stealing if someone gives it to them." Sanji says calmly, taking a drag of his cigarette. "And if I'm not mistaken, it was you clumsy morons who trashed the place, not our little friend." I look up at Sanji in slight surprise; he was actually defending me?

"You've got to get rid of that thing Sanji!" One of the chefs yells. "If Boss Zeff catches you with it-"

"Catch you with what, Sanji?" I squeak softly and cower behind Sanji in fear as the Boss enters the kitchen. I don't know why, but this guy just terrifies me; it's probably the mustache. If this guy was the boss, Sanji was probably really in trouble; I really hope this guy doesn't lose his job because of me, I wouldn't be able to stand the guilt.

"Boss Zeff!" Patty exclaims. "Sanji's been feeding and hiding that little pest who wrecked the restaurant yesterday!" Hey, I thought we established that it wasn't my fault! I tried my hardest not to knock anything over!

Boss Zeff walks towards Sanji, his peg leg making loud clacks on the floor. He glares down at me making me hide behind Sanji even more. "What's that rodent still doing here?" he asks gruffly. "Didn't I tell you to get rid of it?"

To my surprise, Sanji is totally calm; he's acting like he has absolutely nothing to fear. "You told me to take care of it, not get rid of it." he answers coolly. "This little guy doesn't have a home or owner, so as far as I'm concerned, this thing isn't my responsibility." I look at him and he glances down at me.

"Then what's it doing in my kitchen?" Boss asks. "You know better then to allow animals to steal food, especially dirty rodents." Hey, I resent that statement! You would know if I was dirty, I have yellow fur for Arceus' sake!

Sanji puts his hands in his pockets, "It was hungry; as a chef, it's my job to feed someone if they're hungry, even if they're a mouse."

I can't help but feel moved by his words; that explained why he gave me the rest of the food I stole yesterday. I had never seen or interacted with humans before yesterday, but I had no idea they could be so...open hearted towards other species like me. I had just met this guy and he was standing up to his boss for me? A little mouse that had amnesia, couldn't speak their language and even stolen from his workplace? I honestly didn't know what to say (even though he couldn't understand it anyway).

Boss looks like he's about to retort when a loud crash is heard from downstairs. A cook pokes his head into the kitchen."Boss, some pirates are causing a ruckus again." he says, sounding pretty irritated. "They're starting to pull out firearms on the waiters."

Boss sighs, "Patty, Carne, get down there before they make a mess of the place." he says gruffly. Patty and the chef with dark glasses nod firmly and exit the kitchen. "All of you get back to work!" he barks and the chefs comply. I shudder as Boss turns his glare back to me, "That rodent causes anymore trouble, I'll cook it up myself."

I realize that now, I'm gripping Sanji's leg in fear; the thought of being cooked and eaten by this guy was seriously nightmare worthy. I nearly fall as Sanji moves back to his station and continues cooking along with the other chefs. I simply move back to my corner and sit on the floor; nothing really to do. A few minutes pass and a loud crash can be heard from downstairs; sounds like the fight is getting more intense.

"Sounds like trouble down there." A chef comments.

"Those pirates must be putting up one hell of a fight." Another comments. "Maybe we should go down there and make sure they don't completely wreck the place."

All the chefs put away what they're doing and file out the door. Sanji sighs and exits last, sparing me one last glance. "Stay out of trouble." he says simply, leaving me behind in the kitchen.

Well...now what?

* * *

 **Don't worry, our little friend isn't gonna sit out on the action! I mean, it's a Pikachu, they're practically made to fight! Pokémon would honestly fit in pretty well in the One Piece universe...**

 **Review please! And if you have questions, ask 'em!**


	3. First Fight

I peek out of the kitchen door and hear the commotion a bit clearer; it really sounds like a good fight has broken out. For some reason my ears perk up and I feel adrenaline rushing through my veins. I don't know why, but I really want to see all the action!

I jump down a few stairs and peek out through the railing to see that the downstairs has become even more trashed than before. All the regular people have cleared out and all I can see are pirates and chefs tangling.

Just about every table has been smashed or flipped over and chairs are either lying on the ground or being used as weapons. I then notice that Zeff is standing away from the fight, just watching. I frown in confusion at him; maybe he's just waiting to see if anyone needed his help? I doubt the pirates are leaving him out because he's old.

I move my gaze from him and eventually spy Sanji and he's...kicking major ass! Literally! The guy is spinning on his hands and kicking everyone around him like a pinwheel of death! It's actually pretty awesome! My eyes light up as Sanji puts down every enemy that comes his way, hand in his pockets and kicking away; who knew that guy could be such a fighter!

Unfortunately, my envy causes me to fall through the railing and onto the floor. I look up and a body is falling towards me. I jump away only to land in more chaos. I jump, flip and roll as much as I can; I had no idea I had the agility to do that! It felt as simple as breathing.

Luckily, none of the pirates seem to notice me. But c'mon, who would waste energy trying to take out a mouse like me? I suddenly leap back as a pirate swings his sword right in front of me before advancing on me. Apparently, this asshole.

"Look at that! The restaurant even has a pet!" The pirate says with a toothy grin. A vein pops on my head; what'd you call me? I continue to jump back as the pirate continues taking swings at me. It isn't long before I feel the wall behind me with my tail and I look up at the pirate. I scowl and sparks fly from my cheeks; I've had it!

I flip over him and begin running towards him. _'Back off, jerk!'_ White energy surrounds me and I fly towards the pirate. My head feels impact as I slam right into his stomach. A split second later, the pirate is flying through the doors and into the ocean. Didn't know I could do that either. Well, good to know I didn't forget how to defend myself.

"Not bad." I look up to see Sanji looking at me from his spot, watching the pirate outside flail in the waves, while kicking more pirates. "You got some skills under that cute face." Wait, what is _that_ supposed to mean?

"Seems the rodent's actually good for something." Boss comments giving me a knowing grin. Wait...was he expecting me to put up a fight?

I squeak as another pirate grabs my tail and lifts me up. "What kind of rat is this?" he lifts his sword up to me. "Maybe if I cut you open I'll find out!" Yeah, how about, no? And while you're at it, _let go of my tail!_ Seriously, what is with everyone grabbing my tail today?!

Electricity surrounds me and a three foot radius around me, causing the pirate holding me and multiple others to fall over. I land and notice that a few chefs got caught in the crossfire; whoops.

At that point, the pirates finally retreat back to their ship and the chefs let out loud cheers. Do these happen often here? This was one lively place, for sure. The cheers were short lived as a loud roar rings throughout the air, and we all know it's not thunder. We all rush outside, just as a giant sea serpent think breaks the surface. It rips its sharp teeth into the pirate ship that was retreating from the fight and just about rips it to shreds. Oh Arceus…

"It's a Sea King!" I frown; a Seaking? That...doesn't sound right. Do they have the right name? I swear, I know that Seakings don't look like that. I don't really remember what they look like but I know they aren't sea serpents. Anyway, most of the chefs hurry inside to not catch the monsters eye and I follow. However I look back to see that Sanji is standing there, without a care in the world.

"Pika!" I yell. _'Hey! Get inside, stupid!'_ The serpent swims towards him and Sanji leaps into the air, giving it a hard kick in the chin. I gape at the action as the serpent crashes into the water with a hard splash; good Arceus, how strong was this guy?

Unfortunately the serpent isn't finished; it breaks the surface again, and it looks pissed! The serpent roars and slams its tail, sending up a huge wave. It crashes right into Sanji, throwing him against the railing. He really caught him off guard as he was coughing and spluttering. "Sanji! Look out!"

The serpent lunges towards him, giving him no time to attack. That thing was gonna take a bite out of the deck and take Sanji with it!

 _'You idiot!'_ Before I know it, I'm bolting towards Sanji and the sea serpent. I jump up onto Sanji's shoulder and jump into the air from there, having charged up my electricity as I ran. I was gonna need a lot of juice to take this thing down, hopefully the ocean would help.

The sky practically lit up as I focused and shot a thunderbolt right at the serpent's head. The serpent screeched as my lightning covered its whole body, it's damp sea scales working against it by making the shocks ten times more painful. Water was such a valuable ally sometimes. After a few minutes, I stopped and the serpent fell into the sea, twitching and burned to a crisp. I might have overdone it this time.

I landed on the wet deck and grinned triumphantly at my kill before turning back to Sanji's shocked face. The other chefs look pretty shocked too; I guess they didn't realize how much lightning I really had in me. I waited for Sanji, or anyone, to say something, but all I got was silence. Well, I'm getting drenched so may as well get inside.

I trot past Sanji and into the restaurant where I give myself a good shake, getting all the water out of my fur, Sanji not far behind. "Impressive, for a dirty rat." I look up to see Zeff looking down at me. "From the way you move, you're more like a dirty guard dog."

My ears droop. _'Uh...thanks?'_

Boss then looks up at Sanji, "You said this pipsqueak didn't have a home, right Sanji?" he asks. I have a name you know! At least...I think I do.

"Yep." Sanji says with a nod.

"Good, we won't have to deal with anyone to release this rat." Wait...I could stay? Was he actually offering for me to live here?

"Boss! You're not seriously thinking of keeping this thief are you?" Patty protests. I scowl and send a small lightningbolt towards Patty making him jump.

Sanji laughs "You're definitely a keeper!" I look at him in shock and Boss puts his peg leg down, grabbing my attention again.

"Alright Rodent, here's the deal." he says. "If you wanna stay here you'll have to work; you can't just wander around and steal food without pulling your weight." I give a hesitant nod in understanding. "From now on, if anyone causes any kind of ruckus, it's your job to get them out of here, no matter what it takes." My expression becomes a bit more invested; that didn't sound too hard. And I could do whatever it took to get them out for room and board? Not a bad deal. He glares at me. "But if I catch you stealing food again, you're going on the menu."

I take one step back in fear and the old man chuckles at me before looking up at Sanji. "The pipsqueak's your responsibility Sanji." he says before walking away. "If it causes any trouble, I'm kicking your ass too."

"Why me?" Sanji asks, barely hiding the whine in his voice.

"I think a shitty brat like you can get along with a shitty rodent just fine."

Both Sanji and I bristle. "What'd you say?!"

"Pika pika?!"

The other chefs laugh, "Yep, they're perfect together!"

"Like peas in a pod!"

Sanji and I scowl at them when Boss's roar shuts them up. "What are you gawking at?! Clean this place up!"

"Yes Boss Zeff!" they chant and get to work. "And Sanji," Boss adds. "Dry yourself off before you catch your death."

Sanji rolls his eyes and starts heading up the stairs. "C'mon," he says to me. "You're wet too." I follow him up the stairs and into his bedroom where he promptly grabs a small towel and begins rubbing me down. Once he's done, my fur is sticking up making him snort. I scowl at him and shake my fur, putting it back in its proper place.

"So, you shoot lightning, huh?" Sanji goes on as he dries his own hair and takes off his wet jacket and tie. "Can you do any other tricks?"

I frown. _'What do you mean 'tricks'?'_

Sanji takes off his shoes and hangs his jacket and tie up in the bathroom to dry off. "Good thing you know how to fight, 'cause living here is gonna be rough." Oh thanks, that makes me feel so much better…

I jump up on the bed and start grooming my ears a bit; a little fur was still sticking up from the towel. Sanji washes quickly, hanging out the rest of his clothes and comes out wearing his pajamas. He sits down on the bed next to me, "Looks like we're stuck together," he says. "I don't think any of those other morons would want you in their rooms."

Well, you seem to be the only sane person compared to everyone else, so I think I'm totally fine staying in here. I flinch as his hand suddenly appears in my head, "You're a cute little guy, so I guess I don't mind you staying with me," Would you quit calling me cute? It got old the fiftieth time you said it. "But if you cause more trouble...I'm not sure about the whole cooking you up thing."

I quickly back away from his touch and glare at him, "Pika pika…" _'I swear to Arceus if you even think about boiling me-'_

"Hey relax, I'm kidding!" Sanji says, albeit a bit nervously. I guess he remembered that I can fry him like bacon if I wanted to. "Besides, you don't even look edible; I don't think lightning would taste that good, even with my level of skill."

My glare softens and I allow myself to relax again. A yawn suddenly escapes me; that fight must've taken more out of me than I thought. Must be out of practice, if I even practiced fighting to begin with. Arceus, having no memory sucks!

I curl up on the blankets and I feel Sanji pet my back. I recognize the touch, surprisingly; so he was the one who pet me my first night here. "What am I gonna do with you?" I hear him say softly.

Well, as long as you don't eat me or do anything that results in my untimely death, I don't care what you do. The lights go off and I feel Sanji get under the covers before I fall asleep.

* * *

 **And our little friend has had it's first real fight! And even got a home out of it as a reward!**

 **Review! And if you're confused about anything, just ask!**


	4. Getting to Know You

**It hasn't even been a day but I REALLY REALLY wanna post this so here! *throws chapter at your face and runs***

* * *

The next morning, I woke up pretty late. I mean, I guess it was late because Sanji wasn't in his bed. From what I could tell, the guy got up pretty early on most days. I got up and stretched with a yawn; last night certainly was hectic. But on the upside, I don't think I have to worry about being cooked or chased with knives.

"Morning." I hear a familiar voice and turn to see Sanji straightening his tie on his suit. He turns towards me slightly, "Sleep well?" I give him a look but a smile graces my lips.

"Pikachu." I answer, turning away from him to groom my fur; it was pretty matted down from how soundly I slept. I hear Sanji finishing up and open the door.

"Ready for your first day Pika-chan?"

I freeze and look back at him, a confused frown on my face. "Pika?" _'What did you just call me?'_

Sanji grins, "Like it?"

 _'No! I don't like it!'_

"Since you're living here now, might as well give you a proper name."

How is Pika-chan a proper name?! It's practically my real name (if it _is_ my real name) so what's the point?! "Pika pi…" I mutter but Sanji either ignores it or doesn't hear my distaste.

"Well, c'mon Pika-chan. We've got work to do."

I tense at the nickname before following him out with an annoyed scowl on my face. _' **You** have work to do, I'm a guard dog remember?'_ The nickname was obviously gonna take some getting used to.

I follow Sanji to the kitchen where all the other chefs are getting ready for the day as well. I eye the frantic trampling feet in the narrow space and frown. I would prefer to not get squished. As if on pure instinct, I jumped up onto Sanji's shoulder making him start a bit from my sudden presence. Well it was certainly a much better view from up here, and I didn't have to worry about getting stepped on.

When Sanji stops at a certain point on the counter and jump off and land on the counter; I didn't want to hinder him. I flinch as he suddenly throws me an apple and I barely catch it. "Breakfast." he says. "And you better eat the whole thing or I'll cook you up myself."

I grimace and sit against the wall, munching on my apple; what is with these guys and cooking me up? And what happened to me not looking edible? Can these guys make up their minds please? By the time I finished my apple, the kitchen was full of amazing aromas coming from all different kinds of dishes. But out of all of them, Sanji's smelled the best. Maybe it was because I was sitting right next to him, but the smell of his food stood out more than any other in here.

Once Sanji's done, he hands it off to a waiter and starts preparing another meal. Must be a lot of hungry people out there. However, once this order is done, Sanji actually picks up the dish and begins to exit the kitchen without handing it off to a waiter. Why? I watch him go from the counter when something grabs the back of my neck.

I squeal, making Sanji stop just before he exits the door. "Sanji! Take your pet and make sure it does its job!" From the voice I realize that it's Patty. I gotta say, he's got guts to hold me like this since I shocked him the last time he picked me up.

My ears fold back and a frown makes its way to my face. _'What'd you call me?'_ Sparks start flying from my cheeks and Patty tosses me towards Sanji, quite quickly I might add. I land on my paws but not without stumbling a bit. I turn back to Patty and growl at him; he was such a jerk!

Sanji sighs, "You know, I get that with bullies, the big ones always go for the smaller targets." he says, a smirk coming to his face. "But picking on a mouse? I think that's a new low." I smirk as I hear the muffled laughter of the others chefs and Patty's face turns red with rage. "C'mon Pika-chan." Sanji says.

I flinch and scowl at that accursed name and follow him out. I follow him down the stairs where everyone is eating heartily. I stay close to Sanji's legs when he arrives at a table where two girls are sitting and talking happily. "Your dishes, my lovely ladies." he says dreamily, placing the food gently in front of them. I give him a weird look as I spy hearts appearing in his eyes. The hell…?

"Thank you! It looks wonderful!" One of the girls says. I back away slowly as Sanji practically melts and begins what I can only attempt to distinguish as flirting.

One of the girls then spots me and smile, "Aw, look at that cute little thing!" she squeals.

The other girl and Sanji look at me. "Aww! It is cute!" the other girl squeals. "Does it belong to you?"

I glance at Sanji and I can see plotting in his eyes; no, don't you freaking dare!

I manage to restrain myself from filling the whole restaurant with lightning as Sanji holds me and shows me off, making the girls giggle and squeal. _'What have I gotten myself into…?'_

* * *

The rest of the week passed and it was pretty much the same routine for me. Wake up, watch Sanji cook, wander around the restaurant for any troublemakers, and occasionally get dragged over to a table by Sanji to unwillingly help him pick up girls.

I admit, I liked the attention and scratches I got out of it, but that didn't mean it wasn't degrading to be used as a trump card for shameless flirting. It takes everything to not shock the moron when he starts making up new stories of how he found me, and takes care of me like I'm a valuable treasure, and calling me Pika-chan like a sap.

I tried not to cringe as my new name was also spread around to the other chefs, but some refused to use it, like Patty and Zeff. They just stuck with calling me degrading names like Rodent or Pipsqueak. I guess Pika-chan isn't too awful a name compared to those; at least he didn't call me something stupid like Sunflower or Cotton.

Yeah, I'm cute, but it's not something to always be proud of, and the last thing I want is a name that constantly screams 'I'm a cute innocent little mouse'! I guess they're lucky that I don't remember my real name. I know I have a real name; it's in the back of my head, I can feel it.

But as the days pass, I find that my amnesia is bothering me less and less. Maybe because I'm filling my head with new memories I'm worrying about the old ones. Don't get me wrong, I really want to figure out how I got here and why, but right now...I don't think that's possible. I'm not going to find my memories in one of Zeff's recipes for Arceus' sake.

I don't know when or how I'll get my memories back, but for now, I'll focus on the restaurant. I have a new job to do, and until my old life rears its head, I'll do the best I can.

* * *

That night, at the end of the week, it was storming really badly. In fact, the past few days have been rainy and gloomy. It really puts a damper on things around here, if you can believe it. I was sleeping pretty soundly; I found the thunder and lightning soothing, to be honest.

What woke me up was the bedsheets rustling, much more than usual. I open my eyes tiredly and look to see Sanji tossing and turning quite fitfully. But what really gets my attention is the small whimper I catch coming from him. Was he having a nightmare? I was pretty stunned; despite having only known him for about a week, this was incredibly out of character for him.

I get up and walk over to his head and get a good look at his face. He looks really...scared. I didn't think Sanji was even capable of getting scared. I place my paw on his shoulder and shake him, "Pika? Pikachu?" I call.

I repeat the process a few more times until Sanji opens his eyes, his gaze falling right on me. "Oh, Pika-chan-" I frown lightly at the name. "-it's just you…" He rubs the bridge of his nose and sighs, pulling himself together.

"Pika?" _'You okay?'_

He shakes his head, not removing his hand, "It's nothing; go back to sleep." he says. Okay, now I'm curious; that was clearly no ordinary nightmare if it could make someone like Sanji look so shaken up. Sanji silently curses and sits up, sitting against the wall, massaging his temples. I went up to him as lightning flashed through the window. I glance at the window as Sanji's little breakdown doesn't seem to be going away. Did this storm maybe trigger his nightmare?

I point to the window, "Pika?" _'Is it the storm?'_ I ask.

Sanji looks at me and where I'm pointing. It takes him a minute before he gives me a frown, "I'm not afraid of lightning!" he exclaims softly and I sweatdrop.

 _'That's not what I said...'_

His frown fades and he looks at the window. "Well, I guess you could say that storms kind of hit home for me." he says.

My ears droop and I tilt my head, "Pi?"

"I met the old man because of a storm; he was a pirate raiding the ship I was working on." My ears perked back up. Zeff used to be a pirate? That...actually explained a lot. He did act like a pirate when I really thought about it, in fact, everyone here acted like a pirate. I guess that's why fights are really no big deal here; it's basically like one big pirate ship. Well, at least the fights were fun to watch (and occasionally join in).

My eyes are then drawn to the picture on his dresser of him and Zeff. From what he told me, I guess Zeff attacked Sanji's ship when he was a kid. But how did he end up here?

Sanji follows my gaze and a small smile graces his face. "I know, the stupid geezer attacks my ship and I end up working with him; weird right?"

I nod and look at him again. "Pika?" I ask.

He looks down at me, "Hm? You wanna know why?" he asks. I nod again. "Well, it's a long story...and it's one I don't like to tell very often." He shudders and I frown slightly; what on earth could have happened?

I listen intently as he tells me about how he met Zeff, and how he saved his life in more ways than one. He also describes how he nearly starved to death and I can't help but shudder. No wonder he was having a nightmare; nearly starving to death would be terrifying for anyone! But I can't help but feel awed by what Zeff sacrificed for him. He gave up his own leg and title as a pirate, and even risked starving to death...just so Sanji could live.

And all because they shared the same dream: the All Blue.

A smile comes to my face as Sanji begins gushing about how amazing the All Blue is and how it's his dream to find it and prove that it exists. I have to say, an ocean like that sounds amazing! It would certainly be a sight to behold if someone actually found it! And the way Sanji talked about it, he sounded like a completely different person. He sounded like a giddy little boy, but in a good way, and he looked really happy.

After a while, Sanji's rambling dies down and we both yawn; it was probably pretty late by now. Sheesh, one nightmare and Sanji had just about told me his life story; I admit, I feel like I know him much more than I had before.

"We should get to sleep." Sanji says, getting back under the covers. "The old man will kill us if we're tired tomorrow."

"Pika…" I agree with a yawn.

I then flinch as Sanji pets my head, "Thanks for listening," he says.

 _'Huh?'_

"I've never told that story to anyone until now; feels good to finally get it off my chest." I blink at him as his hand remains on my head. He had never told that story to anyone except me? Me of all things? Why me? "Goodnight Pika-chan." Sanji says, finally taking his hand off and lying back down.

I stare at him as he closes his eyes. What happened just now was definitely an eye-opener. Sanji...trusted me. I'm not sure how far that trust goes, but it's there, and it feels...strange. But not in a bad way, I think. I feel something deep inside me and it feels...warm. Maybe...this is what it felt like to be wanted, trusted by someone.

Why is this feeling so new to me? Maybe because I forgot what it was like. I don't remember any of the ones I trusted before I came here. But, this feeling, it feels...nice. I calmly crawl up and slowly nestle myself in the crook of Sanji's arm. I feel him shift and after a few moments, he puts his hand on my back. Yeah...this feeling...it feels really nice. Maybe living here really won't be so bad.

The next morning, I wake up, still in Sanji's arms. He's still sound asleep and I know Zeff will want us up, so I wake him. Once he's dressed and ready we head out of our room, me trotting by his side. "Ready for another day, Pika-chan?" Sanji asks.

This time, I smile up at him. "Pikachu!" Sanji smiles back and we head downstairs, where customers are already starting to fill in.

Before I knew it, a number of months had passed with my memory showing no sign of return, but honestly, being here with Sanji, Zeff and the other chefs, I didn't care.

* * *

 **Alright, little character development out of the way, and now we can proceed! And we finally have a name for our little hero!**

 **And I'm gonna say this now: Pika-chan's gender? Honestly, it's up to you. I wrote this story in 1st person for a reason. And I checked; the honorific '-chan' is ambiguous when used on animals. With animals and creatures, it just means cute. It only refers to females when used on humans. At least, that's the logic I'm using to justify this...**

 **But the point is, Pika-chan is technically you, the reader, so slip into this little mouse's skin and enjoy the ride! Whether you're male or female, Pika-chan's adventures and thoughts are yours to experience!**

 **Next chapter, our favorite rubber captain will be making his smashing entrance!**


	5. The New Chore Boy

**Oh my god all the fav and follows and it's only been a day! *squeals***

 **I decided to give you this chapter before I go to the beach for the week. I might be able to update there, but if not, enjoy this!**

 **Enter, the Straw Hats!**

* * *

I woke up to a loud crash. Another afternoon nap ruined. I don't know why I even bother anymore with how rowdy this place gets. I get up and decide to head to the kitchen; the smell of food usually helped keep me awake for the rest of the day and however late into the night we had to go.

As I walked down the hall towards the stairs I saw a bunch of chefs dragging a kid towards Zeff's room. I guess that kid was the source of the crash. I couldn't get a good look at him so I just went on my way; Zeff would take care of him no problem like he always did.

I trot down the stairs when I hear the unmistakable sound of tiny running feet.

"There it is!"

"Haha! You're mine Pikachu!"

On instinct I do a backflip just as two small bodies tackle the spot where I was standing. I land and take off running; holding back is not an option for these two! Without hesitation the two boys spring up and give chase. The regular customers and chefs all move accordingly as we zoom by while newcomers get the surprise of their lives. I'm gonna kill whoever came up with this rumor. Catch the mouse, get a prize!

I run by Sanji and I can see him laughing at me. I swear if he's the culprit, even he won't be spared from my wrath. I eventually zoom up the stairs and into the kitchen, expertly avoiding the feet of the other chefs inside until I get to the back wall. I lean against it and sigh in relief; home free.

I wait a few minutes before exiting the kitchen and find Sanji heading back down the stairs, a bottle of wine in his hand. I follow him down and stick to his side; if I stuck with a chef or stayed in the kitchen, the kids knew not to mess with me. Sanji walks to a table and pours the wine for a couple, a pretty blonde lady and a pink haired guy who, for some reason had iron around his knuckles. I swear, the weirdos that walk into this place never fail to entertain me.

The couple sips their wine and the man smiles and holds up his hand. "This flavor…" he smells the glass. "And the aroma...it's the unmistakable scent of the soil of Meeko from the northland; littered with plenty of body and just a tad sour!"

I frown. This guy was starting to weird me out. He goes on and names the wine and everyone is staring at him with impressive looks. Was guessing wine names that big a deal? It's just wine people...

The guy looks up at Sanji, "Tell me waiter, am I right?"

Sanji nearly slams the bottle on the table and takes off the towel. "Nope. Not even close, sir." I cover my mouth with my paw to hide a snicker. The look on this guy's face is hilarious! Sanji grips the man's wrist and places a spoon in his hand. "Now eat up, this dish is best when hot." Sanji turns and leaves with me following. "And my name's Sanji, I'm the Sous chef." he adds. "All the waiters ran off as of yesterday."

I sigh silently as we ascend the stairs; you would think that those waiters would be used to all the scuffles in this place. But they should have known what they were getting into when they applied for the job.

"What an asshole…" Sanji mutters. I look up at him and suddenly smile knowingly. He looks down at me and smirks, "I had a feeling that guy knew nothing about wine when he ordered a specific flavor."

I laugh and follow him into the kitchen. That certainly made up for being chased by little brats again; I needed a good laugh. I watch as Sanji prepares another dish and follow him back outside, glancing around for anymore potential chasers. I sigh in relief; it seems that the kids from earlier have left and the only kids left were older and most likely, mature enough to keep from seeing me as a moving target.

I finally break from Sanji and wander around the restaurant, making sure no one has any trouble. I notice someone has finished their drink and see another chef nearby. I tug on his pant leg causing him to look down at me. "What is it?" he asks.

"Pika." I point to the customer with the empty glass. The chef gives me a smile and walks over to the table to attend him. I'm not just a guard dog; I also alert the chefs around if a customer needs something.

For a few minutes, I wander around, sometimes accompanying Sanji or letting some customers pet me. The petting is annoying because it really hammers in the whole pet thing, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good.

I'm trotting next to Sanji when a loud familiar voice is heard. "Hey waiter! Get over here!"

Sanji and I stop and turn towards the voice. It's the guy who was obsessed with wine. Sanji and I walk over and I try not to shudder from the presence Sanji is giving off. His patience is already wearing thin with this guy. "I thought I already told you." Sanji says lowly. "I'm not a waiter." His eyes then fall on Wine Guy's date and he leans towards her. "What an irresistible beauty you are." he says coolly, placing his hand on hers. "Would you care to join me elsewhere for a glass of wine?"

Normally I would roll my eyes but I realize that he's actually holding back. He's normally much more, uh...flamboyant around girls; this time he was actually acting pretty suave and tame. I notice Wine Guy's eyes narrow; ah, I get it, he's intentionally pissing the guy off. This oughta be good.

Wine Guy slams his hand on the table, "What is this?" he demands, pointing at his soup. "Is Bug Soup on the menu today or did you make it just for me?"

"Bug Soup?" Sanji asks. I smell sabotage.

"That's right, what's this bug doing there, waiter?" Wait, I know this one! The punchline is 'the backstroke', right?

"Well honestly, I'm not sure, but he looks like he's floating." Sanji says. "Then again, it looks like it could be drowning." I have to cover both my paws to hide my laugh this time; that was ten times funnier! I stop laughing as Wine Guy roars and splits the whole table in half with his fist. His date stands up abruptly and everyone is silent.

My eyes go to the floor where the soup has spilled and Sanji kneels over it silently; oh boy, that guy was gonna get it now. "You could have eaten it if you had taken the bug out." Sanji growls. "It took three whole days to make this soup and you wasted it."

Rule number one around Sanji: never _ever_ waste food if you value your life.

I wince as Wine guy steps on Sanji's hand, yelling at him. He even throws his date to the ground for trying to reason with him. "I'm the customer here; I'm paying you!" Now that guy was as good as dead, and honestly, I was looking forward to it. A jerk like that didn't deserve to get off easy, and Sanji would give him the kick he needed, literally.

A split second later, Sanji is holding the guy up by the neck, blood dripping from his face. Woven like a quilt. I smirk while everyone else stares in horror; Sanji always knew how to treat the bad customers.

"Dammit Sanji, not again!" I groan and roll my eyes as Patty approaches him. "What are you doing to our customer?"

Sanji simply glances at him. "Who wants to know, you shitty cook?" he retorts. Oh boy, here we go…

Patty starts his inevitable 'customers are our lifeblood' speech and I just want to rip my ears off. But Sanji answers, probably shutting out the whole speech beforehand like me. "He was disrespectful to the food and the cooks." he says, letting Wine guy drop. "So I simply taught him a lesson." I cross my front paws and nod firmly, agreeing wholeheartedly. That guy was a jerk, who cares if he was with the military or Marines or whatever.

Wine Guy speaks up again. "I'll shut you down." he says dangerously. "You hear me; you're finished!"

Oh dear…

"Then maybe I should just finish you off first." Sanji answers. I grab onto his ankle as the rest of the cooks struggle to hold him back while he yells and swears at Wine Guy. If looks could kill, Wine Guy would be long dead; actually Sanji would be a mass murderer if that was true.

My ears twitch as there's another crash and two bodies fall through the ceiling. Geez, how much more abuse could this old place take? I look and realize that it's Zeff and some other kid wearing a straw hat; wasn't that the same kid who was responsible for the earlier crash? Zeff and the straw hat kid start yelling when one of the chefs point out Sanji who's still being held back. I can already smell the argument brewing, pun intended.

"Sanji, you idiot; you're on another rampage?" Zeff demands.

"Shut it old man!" Sanji retorts. Of course, Sanji's actions get him a good pegleg to the face, but Wine Guy gets a kick too so I'd say that justice has been served.

Zeff then looks at me. "Rodent; show this man out if he causes any more trouble." I grin evilly and face him, sparks flying from my cheeks. Wine guy stares at me, trembling under my gaze. I'm almost hoping that he causes more trouble; I'm itching to rain lightning on this punk!

Just then another guy appears in the doorway, I think he's a Marine, since it says that on his hat. He yells something about someone escaping, someone from a crew by a guy named Don Kreig? I listen as everyone mutters fearfully; I pick up phrases like how fearsome he was and how dangerous. The Marine tries to say something else but a gunshot rings out making me flinch and he falls down dead.

A thin man that actually looks exhausted and injured slowly enters the restaurant. So this guy was a pirate? I look up at Sanji but he doesn't seem too worried. For some reason, his confidence helps me to keep from being scared too. If I know that Sanji isn't scared, then I shouldn't be either; it was reassuring.

The pirate sits down and asks for food so Patty goes right up to take his order with that big creepy smile. "Hello you damn crook!" I shudder; his face can be super scary sometimes. "Might I ask how you're paying for your meal?"

The pirate responds by holding his pistol to Patty's face. Typical. "Will a bullet be enough?" he asks, but Patty isn't threatened at all.

"So you don't have any money." he states and immediately crushes the pirate's chair. I roll my eyes along with Zeff; we were gonna run out of chairs at this rate. I frown as I hear the pirate's stomach grumble loudly; boy, the guy must really be hungry. I can't help but feel a little guilty as Patty blatantly refuses to give the pirate any food. I thought Zeff's policy was that if someone's hungry then they're a customer. I don't remember him saying that payment always applied.

I look up as Sanji suddenly walks off so I follow. He goes into the kitchen, pulls out a knife, and gathers necessary ingredients. I sigh; I should have known that Sanji would go soft on that guy, but I can't help but smile slightly. As usual, the food smells great and Sanji brings it out of the kitchen. I follow him towards the back door where Patty had thrown the guy out.

I make to follow him but he sticks his foot out, blocking my path. "Keep watch for me, would ya?" he asks. I look up at him and nod. I turn and place myself a few yards from the door, keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious. If they were caught, that pirate wouldn't get any food.

I wasn't worried about Sanji being fired, it was clear that he would stay here for life if he wanted. If he and Zeff didn't have the special relationship that they did, he would have been fired a long time ago.

After a while, all the chefs are back in the kitchen and making no move to check on the pirate they just threw out. I guess it was safe to leave my post. I wandered through the restaurant for a while, nothing really exciting happening until I spy Sanji heading to his room. Odd; shouldn't he be cooking with the others?

I follow him and watch as he sits on his bed, staring at the open window as he takes a long drag, very deep in thought. He doesn't notice my presence until I jump onto the bed next to him. "Pikachu?" I ask.

"Don't worry, the pirate ate and left." he says without looking at me.

I give him a slight frown. _'That's not what I'm asking, stupid.'_ I tap his leg lightly; I'm not leaving until I get a straight answer.

Sanji smirks and looks at me directly. "Can't get anything past you, can I?" he looks back at the wall. "The Chore Boy in the straw hat asked me to join his pirate crew." he states simply. "The kid's a pirate; who knew, right?"

My ears perk up in surprise. So Chore Boy was a pirate, huh? That would explain the way he acted. A crash was heard from the kitchen followed by Chore Boy's yells, punctuating my thoughts. But still, he had asked Sanji to join his crew?

Sanji sees the question in my gaze and sighs. "I turned him down, of course." he says. "I can't leave this place, not yet."

I frown even more. I can barely hear the conflict in his voice. Sanji _wants_ to leave, I know it; how else is he going to find the All Blue if he stays in a restaurant for the rest of his life? It's clear to me that Zeff is what's holding him back. He still feels obligated to him. I don't blame him for feeling that way, but there's only so much you can do to repay a debt that probably can't even be repaid in the first place.

I wanted Sanji to chase his dreams; I loved the way he lit up whenever he talked about the All Blue and traveling the sea. But only he could decide that, there was no way I could force him. _'I wish I could speak your language.'_

Sanji gets up after a few more moments of silence. "C'mon Pika-chan." he says. "We've got work to do."

I jump on his shoulder and we exit the room. Sanji and I can hear the crashes still coming from the kitchen so we smartly decide to avoid it. Sanji goes around taking orders while I wander around to entertain the kids or younger guests. At some point in time, I'm snickering from my perch on Sanji's shoulder at a customer while Sanji flirts with the man's girlfriend when there's a loud crash followed by laughter and yelling.

Sanji and I look up to see Chore Boy on the ground with three people laughing loudly at him. "Aren't they quaint?" he mutters to me. "I wonder if that's the rest of his crew."

"Pika?" So those guys were pirates too? There's a guy with swords and green hair, a guy with a long nose, and a red haired girl- Oh no...

I smack my face as Sanji puts down the bottle of wine he's pouring, brings out a flower and begins flirting with the red haired girl. I jump off his shoulder with a loud irritated sigh; I should be used to this, but his timing was ridiculous. I face him in surprise as he suddenly blurts out that he would gladly become a pirate if it meant sailing with her, but an obstacle stood in his way.

As if on cue, I hear a peg leg behind us. "And that obstacle would be me, right?"

I turn and face Zeff as Sanji (thankfully) snaps out of his love-induced daze. "Shitty geezer…" he mutters.

"This is an opportunity you don't want to pass up Sanji." Zeff says. "Why not become a pirate and sail with them." Sanji whirls around and my eyes widen. Was he serious right now, or was I hallucinating? "I have no need to keep you here."

I swore my jaw dropped to the floor. Was this seriously happening? Zeff was actually throwing Sanji out? _Sanji?_

Sanji was apparently thinking the same thing and he wasn't happy at all. "What's that supposed to mean, old man?" he asks dangerously. Oh boy, it was about to go down, I could already tell.

I listen as Zeff begins to list off all the reasons. "You fight with customers all the time, you flirt with any woman under eighty who comes in here," Well, that was true, no point in denying that… "And you're a terrible chef." I bristle at that. That was a flat out lie! Sanji's food was the best and everyone knew it! I didn't care that he was the Boss, I wouldn't let him insult Sanji's food like that!

I hear snickering and I look up to see that it belonged to all the other chefs. I could feel my blood starting to boil as I grit my teeth and stared up at them. "Pika-chan." I heard Sanji say to me softly, warning lacing his tone.

I flinch slightly as I realize that I'm on all fours and sparks were flying dangerously from my cheeks. I was on the verge of electrocuting the whole restaurant. My anger could really get the better of me sometimes...but that didn't mean that these guys didn't deserve it right now! I growl softly as I stop my electricity and Zeff smirks down at me. He better be grateful that I was doing what Sanji said for now.

Sanji slowly walks towards Zeff, a dangerous glare in his eyes. Lets just say I'm not the only one who hates it when someone trashes Sanji's cooking. "I'll let everything else you said slide, but I won't let you insult my cooking!" he snaps grabbing Zeff by the collar. "I'm staying here and that's final! Got it you old geezer?"

Well, this wasn't going to end well. I cringed as Zeff throws Sanji across the room and he lands on the pirates' table with a loud crash. The pirates managed to save their food, but the table toppled over easily. I knew he was fine, he took abuse like this on a daily basis, but I still go over to his side regardless.

"I don't care what you say…" Sanji says softly. "I'm not leaving until you're dead and gone!"

Zeff scoffs and walks away. "Please, I've got a hundred years left in me to kick your ass." he retorts.

A small smile pulls at my face as I sigh along with Sanji. "Always has to have the last laugh."

"Pika…" I agree. But still, that argument was definitely more serious than the others they'd had. I knew that deep down Zeff cared for Sanji, like he was his son, so why was he so keen to throw him out all of a sudden?

Chore Boy suddenly appears and places his hand on Sanji's shoulder. "See? He said it's cool, now you can join my crew!"

"Shut up!" Sanji yells. Boy, this kid was really keen on getting Sanji to join up.

I roll my eyes as Sanji readjusts the table and starts flirting with the red haired girl pirate again. I swear, if there's a girl around, this guy can't stay serious for more than three seconds.

"Ooh, what are you?"

My eyes widen as something wraps around my tail. I let out a cry, catching Sanji's attention as I'm lifted into the air by Chore Boy. He brings me close to his face, examining me at an uncomfortably close level. "Are you some kind of rat?" he asks.

I let out a growl and Sanji's eyes widen. "Uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you..." he warns.

However, it's too late; I have to let out the anger from earlier somehow. Without thinking twice, I let loose, unleashing my fury on Chore Boy and the swordsman next to him. Once I'm done, Swordsman falls to the floor twitching but...wait a minute, how is Chore Boy still holding me?! He grins down at me; he doesn't have a scratch on him! How was this possible?!

"You're a weird rat!" he comments as if nothing happened. I give him a sharp glare but he finally lets go of me.

"What the hell was that?!" I jump as the swordsman gets up and glares daggers at me. However, I make it clear that I'm not in the mood to be messed with. _'Don't try anything with those swords of yours buddy!_ '

Sanji laughs, "That's just what you get for grabbing Pika-chan's tail." I turn away stiffly to prove my point and head on my way. This whole day has just been one disaster after another and I needed a break.

I can't help but snicker as Sanji drags Chore Boy to another part of the restaurant. Zeff and Sanji were gonna work that kid to the bone and I have a feeling it will be quite enjoyable to watch.

* * *

 **And thus, the Baratie arc is now in full swing!**

 **Also, I'm gonna bring this up now while I'm thinking about it; I only plan to do a handful of the movies. They're technically non-canon so it really doesn't matter if I include them or not, but they're a lot of fun and Pika-chan's involvement could make some cool scenes. So far, 'Strong World' and 'Film Z' are definitely on the to-do list, so if you want to see Pika-chan in any movies from Clockwork Island (Movie 2) onward, speak up now!**


	6. An Enemy Arrives

**Welp, the reviewers have spoken (you guuuuys! I can't take all the love you're giving me, it's too much! *blushes*)! Looks like I have no choice; Pika-chan is gonna be in all the movies! Not I just have to find 'em, watch 'em, and place them accordingly in the timeline. So after we wrap up the Arlong arc, look forward to Pika-chan adventuring through Clockwork Island!**

* * *

Well, it's been four days and I wasn't lying about Chore Boy. His antics were certainly something to behold. It was so entertaining to both me and Sanji when he got under the skin of the other cooks by doing something stupid. I seriously think he lost his brain somewhere at sea. I also finally found out his real name; I overheard his crewmates call him Luffy. They were starting to get restless from waiting around.

I lay on the roof of the Baratie, the fog drifting around the entire area. It was pretty relaxing, to be honest. I watched Luffy carry some trash to be thrown away when he suddenly froze. I watched as he turned towards the sea, a blank look in his eyes. I followed his gaze and my ears twitched. I quickly got up on alert. Something bad was coming.

I ran through a window and ran to find Sanji, who was in the kitchen (as usual). "Hm?" he looked down at me. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Pika pikachu! Pika!" I gesture frantically trying to get the point across that danger was coming. Granted, I didn't have a clue what it was, but I wasn't waiting to speak up about it! I point outside a few times and run back out, with Sanji following. Thank Arceus that he cares enough to take what I'm saying seriously. Sanji walks to the edge of the dock and I jump on his shoulder. As expected, my instincts were right; a ship was coming, and the whole thing radiated danger like an alarm. "Pikachu…?" I question.

"It's Kreig's ship alright." Sanji says, sating my curiosity. My eyes widen as I remember the man we helped a few days ago. So this Kreig guy is a pirate? And judging by the aura this boat was giving off I think it was safe to say that we were in real trouble.

"Whoa! That ship is huge!" I frown as Luffy appears next to us. "Do you think Ghin came back to repay you?" Yep, I was right, this kid lost his brain at sea a long time ago.

We head back inside and get to the stairwell just as the doors burst open, revealing the man Sanji helped, and a huge man wearing a cape and armor. But...he looks exhausted. That large man was being supported by the smaller one, and he looked like he was on the verge of collapsing. This was the feared pirate Kreig that everyone talked about? This was the same guy who scared everyone so badly? It couldn't be…

"Please…" Kreig rasped out. "I need food and drink…" Wait, what? "We have money...we can pay...please, I'm begging you…"

My heart almost broke at how desperate he sounded. Especially a guy like this. Being a feared pirate, he probably had tons of pride, and now he was reduced to begging. My ears twitch as Sanji slowly walks up the stairs and I scurry after him. We go to the kitchen and Sanji immediately begins to cook some rice and shrimp. I smile as I leap up on the counter next to him. I can't help but admire Sanji's kindness at times like this. Yeah, he was a hot-headed pervert, but he was a good man.

Soon, Sanji has prepared a huge bowl of rice, shrimp and onions and takes a bottle of alcohol. I follow him out the door and we make our way back to the stairs. I jump down the stairs ahead of him to see that Kreig has fully collapsed. Had no one given this guy anything? He was literally on his hands and knees and no one pitied him? Well, then again the guy has apparently done some really awful things, but it was just as bad to let the guy starve like this!

Patty was in the middle of badmouthing Kreig but Sanji simply kicked him out of the way. Sanji approaches Kreig and lays the food in front of him. The pirate wastes no time wolfing the food down. I can see grateful tears in his eyes; maybe this guy wasn't as bad as they said he was.

"Idiot! Get that food away from him!" I scowl as Carne speaks up. What good was it taking the food away now, he was already halfway done with it. I roll my eyes as Carne starts blabbing about how bad Kreig is and all the terrible things he's done. It's obvious that Sanji isn't listening, but I can't help but pick up that this guy would trick people into thinking they were friendly before giving them hell.

I look back at Kreig who's almost done with his meal. My instincts are on edge, telling me to be wary. I know better than to ignore them. I flinch as Kreig suddenly slams the bottle down after chugging down the last of the beer. My ears twitch as he clenches his fist. I know that feeling all too well. Clear signs of attack.

Thinking fast, I sweep my tail under Sanji's feet. He lets out a small exclamation as he falls backwards, narrowly missing Krieg's meaty arm. That was too close! However, Kreig isn't too pleased.

Before I know it, something hard and solid collides into me and I hear Sanji yell out in anger. I let out a choked cry as I fly across the room before meeting with the wall, leaving a good sized dent behind. I moan softly as I fall, slamming onto the bar and bouncing to the floor. Damn, I should've seen that coming; freaking instincts.

I can feel everyone's eyes on me as I lie there, frozen in pain. The customers were no doubt clearing out of this place. That bastard had kicked all the air right out of me! After a few seconds, my lungs finally open up and I let out a few wet coughs. I hear a few sighs of relief; I guess they were surprised that a little thing like me could survive that.

I can feel my eyes watering as my entire body throbs in pain. I don't think I've ever felt pain like this or ever would again. I focus on breathing as much as I can and feel someone gently pick me off the ground. It was Sanji; I could tell by the way he cradled me as carefully as he could, as if I was made out of glass. I open one eye and gaze up at him, and I can instantly tell that he's pissed. His face didn't show it, but man, his eyes are practically blazing.

My consciousness starts slipping in and out. I can hear Kreig say something about taking the restaurant and needing food for his men. Great, so we _were_ being attacked. Maybe Sanji and I shouldn't have been that nice. After a while, Sanji stands up straight, still holding me close. He walks over to the bar and lays me behind it gently. "Stay here and rest up, alright?" he says.

He then stands up and heads towards the stairs. My eyes widen, as well as everyone else's; he was going to give into his demands? After what he just did and is planning to do?! I wince and my mind shuts down for a few seconds. When I open them again, Sanji is surrounded by the other cooks and their cooking utensils, none of them keen on letting Sanji do what he pleased.

Of course Sanji, being cool and collected as usual, doesn't seem fazed at all. But that doesn't stop Patty from landing a sharp blow to the back of his neck, making him collapse. "Pika…!" I wince as I get up and limp over to him quickly on all fours. I lay my paw on his arm causing him to look at me before turning slightly to Patty.

"Sorry Sanji, but I can't let you do that." Patty says walking past him. "We're going to protect this place." I watch as he walks over to a cabinet and pulls out a giant cannon. My eyes nearly pop out my head; had that huge thing been in there all this time? "Hope you're ready for dessert! Cause this recipe is to die for!" Patty yells, aiming the giant cannon at Kreig.

I cover my eyes as a bright light comes from the cannon, hitting Kreig square in the chest with its ammo. I open my eyes as the light fades and Sanji sits up, picking me up as well. He's still gentle with me, even though the pain is starting to go away. I stare at the spot where Kreig once stood but I don't feel relieved, not at all. My suspicions are confirmed when Kreig appears through the smoke without a scratch on him.

We are screwed.

* * *

 **Yeah this one's short, but I can update while vacationing here, so I'll probably upload the next part sometime tomorrow.**

 **Quick side note, a lot of details from episodes and arcs are gonna be summarized to save writing and reading time; I'll include any details and dialogue that I deem important to the story. Because honestly, you guys don't want to read me novelizing every single god damned episode, you wanna read Pika-chan being cute and awesome! Amiright?**

 **Review! They all make me feel so fluffy!**


	7. Battle for the Baratie

**You guys, you guuuuuuuuys! All the favs, follows, and reviews! I've never seen one of my stories get this much attention in the first few days of its birth! Thank you guys so much for your support! I'm so glad you're enjoying it!**

 **Alright, this is gonna be a long one, so brace yourselves! It's time for a fight!**

* * *

Today couldn't possibly get anymore hectic. First Kreig threatens to take the Baratie, then Zeff actually does what Kreig says and makes all the crew members meals, and _then_ Krieg's giant ship gets taken out by some weird guy they called Hawkeye Mihawk (I think?). Apparently this guy was from the Grand Line where Kreig's army got sunk. I don't know much about the Grand Line, but if it's full of strong guys like that Hawkeye guy, I don't want anything to do with it.

One of Luffy's friends, the green swordsman guy, actually went to fight him. And, big shock, he almost got killed. Sanji was pretty confused by his stupidity too; seriously, I get that fighting against enemies stronger than you make you stronger in turn, but this guy was way out of his league! He was asking to get beaten up! Well, Hawkeye actually let him live so I gave him a bit of respect for not being a mindless killing machine. But that swordsman's pride was probably in shatters.

But the actual shock came from Luffy. He wasn't happy about his friend getting the tar beaten, or sliced, out of him and he jumped over to Hawkeye. But he didn't jump, he freaking stretched! As in, stretched his entire arm over to the raft where the fight had been and flew over! Turns out Luffy's made of rubber; that explained why my electricity did nothing to him earlier. Rubber is my one weakness.

But this little fight didn't stop Kreig. Before I knew it, his crew was getting ready to strike and Sanji had placed me inside the restaurant. "You stay in here." he said. I protested of course, not wanting to leave Sanji with these guys, but he wouldn't have any of it. "You're still hurt and this could get rough; stay in here and rest where it's safe." And with that, he closed the doors, not waiting to hear me complain.

Safe in _here_? If Kreig wins then this place will be far from safe! But there's nothing I can do to get out and, though I hate to admit it, Sanji has a point. I'm in no condition to fight. My middle already has a nasty bruise where Kreig had kicked me. Yeah, I could breathe normally, but touching that spot or moving around too much really made it sting. On top of that, I've never fought people like this before (that I can remember anyway). The most I did was shock or tackle people out of the restaurant; not really the best moves when fighting guys like this.

With nothing to do, I walk over to the base of the stairs to sit down, trying to ignore the screams and battle noises coming from outside. From the sound of it, Luffy was really going nuts out there. It sounded like he was quite the fighter; good to know that he's good for something. I manage to keep myself from watching for a while (I'm pretty sure I even heard something catch on fire), until I hear some weird banging noise.

My curiosity finally at its limit, I scurry up the stairs, perch myself in a window and oh hey, they raised the Fins for more fighting ground (haven't needed those things in a while) and...wait, what the hell was I even looking at?

Kreig was standing on the remains of his ship, but that wasn't the weird part. There was another guy, a huge guy standing on one of the Fins wearing a giant pearl on his head and wearing a bunch of...pearl armor…? Basically, it looked really silly. The guy is approaching Sanji but he doesn't move. Why isn't he moving?

I feel my heart skip a beat as the pearly guy lands a hard punch on Sanji throwing him against the wall. I cry out but no one's paying attention to me. What the hell? Why didn't Sanji move?! I look around and see why; the guy we helped is holding a gun to Zeff's head! (I think Luffy said his name was...Ghin?) I grit my teeth; how could he do this after everything Sanji did for him?!

"Sanji!" Luffy exclaims. "Why didn't you dodge that?!"

"Because that bastard would've pulled the trigger." Sanji answers gruffly.

Ghin looks at Sanji, "Why are you doing this?" he asks. "Just leave the restaurant peacefully and no one will get hurt!" My paws clench and I can feel sparks flying from my cheeks. I couldn't just sit up here, I had to do something!

"I've already taken everything from that old man," Sanji says softly. "His power...his dreams…" I can almost see the images flashing through his head. He's thinking of when he was marooned with him on that rock. He slowly gets to his feet. "So while I'm around...I'm not gonna let anything else get taken from him!"

My eyes widen as the pearly guy lunges at Sanji from behind, raising his arms to smash his brains in and I see red. I take a flying leap, sparks flying from my cheeks. I dive towards the pearly guy and begin somersaulting in the air. On instinct I concentrate my energy into my tail and it begins to glow. I spin faster and faster with gravity until I finally make contact. My tail, now fully made of iron, smashes the ball on Pearly Guys' head, most likely giving him a concussion as well.

Well, that's another thing I didn't know I could do; guess that's another piece of memory I recovered.

Pearly Guy freezes in place as the pearl on his head shatters. I push off him with my tail and flip back towards Sanji as Pearly Guy sways on his feet. I land in front of him, a murderous look in my eyes and sparks flying from my cheeks. I wasn't done with this clown yet! I charge up my tail again, give it a hard swing, and strike him right in the center of his stupid armor, shattering it easily.

Okay, this move is amazing; I'm definitely using it more often!

Pearly guy falls to the ground and I stand in an offensive stance; who cares if I'm injured, I'll take on all these punks if I have to! "Pika-chan…" Sanji says in shock.

"Whoa, that was awesome!" Luffy exclaims. "You're the coolest rat ever!"

I ignore his words and turn towards Ghin who's staring at me in awe and fear; good, he should be scared from what I'm gonna do to him! Sparks fly from my cheeks and I bare my fangs taking a step towards him.

"Pika-chan, don't!" Sanji orders, putting his foot in front of me. "If you try anything, he'll pull the trigger!"

I frown at Sanji, "Pika pika!" _'We can't just do nothing!'_ I was fast enough, I could knock that gun out of the guy's hands in a second and Zeff would be fine!

Sanji glares down at me, "That old coot gave up his leg for me!" he said, catching me by surprise. "I can't repay the old man if he's dead!" My frown softens; I knew Sanji cared about Zeff, but we couldn't just let Kreig do what he wanted! If he really cared he would stop Kreig from getting his hands on this restaurant no matter what it took!

"GUM GUM…"

Sanji and I turn to Luffy who's stretching his leg high into the sky. "No don't!" Sanji yells.

"...BATTLE AXE!" Luffy brought his foot down and smashed the whole Fin. Arceus, this kid was stronger than I gave him credit for!

"He's trying to sink the ship!" Someone shouts. Okay, this isn't exactly what I had in mind when I said stopping Kreig no matter what it took. Sanji and I both fall over from the shaking the attack caused and Kreig looks ready to blow a gasket. "Ghin! Shoot the old man's head off now!"

Sanji and I tense. I look at Ghin who looks conflicted. C'mon Ghin...you're better than this! "But...he saved our lives...he gave us food!" he protests.

We look at Luffy as he dusts himself off. "Don't get so upset," he says. "I didn't sink it...yet."

"What?!" Sanji got to his feet and stomped towards Luffy, grabbing the front of his vest. "You bastard! You can't sink this ship!"

"But if the restaurants gone, then they have no reason to attack us." Luffy says, unfazed by Sanji's anger. That was a good point, but knowing this guy and his anger issues he would probably kill us anyway. I think it's safe to say we're in a bit of a stalemate.

"This ship saved my life! I owe everything to her!" Sanji yells.

"You're gonna die for some stupid restaurant?" Luffy asks sharply. "Are you stupid?" My ears perked up and Sanji froze. Luffy slaps Sanji's hand away and grabs the front of his suit. "Getting killed? That's how you want to repay your debt?" he demands. Wow, I didn't know Luffy could get this mad. "The old man didn't save you so you could kill yourself!" Luffy says dangerously. "He did it so you could do something with your life!"

"So your big idea is to help them attack us?" Sanji demands. I watch as both Luffy and Sanji stare at each other neither one of them backing down. This fight was really getting personal! My ears suddenly twitch as I hear something being thrown to the ground and footsteps rushing towards me.

I turn just in time for a shoe knock me onto my back and stomp right on my middle. I squeal in pain as my injury flares up quickly from the full weight of the person stepping on me. I open my eyes to see Ghin hovering over me. "I'm sorry, little one." he said softly, two iron tonfa with heavy orbs on the ends of them in his hands. "But you're in my way."

I let out a scream as Ghin increases his weight on me for a split second before I feel him release me followed by something hard, heavy, and smooth knocking me into the air. I only flew a short distance because after a second, I smack a piece of wood and tumble to the ground.

"Pika-chan!" I feel familiar hands pick me up and cradle me gently.

I crack one eye open and look towards Ghin, who's staring at Kreig. "What the hell are you doing Ghin?" Krieg demands.

"I'm sorry Don Kreig." Ghin says. "He saved our lives; I can't kill him like this...he deserves to die standing up." He turns towards Sanji and me. "But I promise, he'll still die by my hand." I try to glare at him as hard as I can, but I'm too pained to move. Thank Arceus that tonfa didn't also hit my old injury, or I would probably be coughing up blood.

"Great." Kreig grumbles. "My Chief Commander has lost his marbles!" Wait...would you mind repeating that? Ghin is their chief commander?!

Luffy grinned, "My plan worked!" he cheered. "Now we got him out in the open!"

"You liar!" Sanji yelled. I tried to insult him myself but it came out as a choke. Sanji looked down at me with worried eyes. "You okay?" I respond with another cough and slow breathing; it sounds like I'm wheezing. Sheesh, I probably look pretty pathetic.

"Sanji!" Ghin's voice rang through the air. "I'm just following orders; I don't want to wreck this ship but it seems that it's too late for that now."

Sanji smirks. "If you think you can get to this place without killing me, you've got another thing coming." he retorts.

"Sounds fair," Ghin says. "It will be a pleasure to kill you my friend."

"Gee, that's comforting," Sanji says. "...Asshole…" I can't help but silently laugh as he mutters that last part. All this fighting must have damaged my brain if I'm laughing while injured.

Luffy shrugs, "I'm not afraid of any Kreig pirate." he comments. "You're only strong 'cause you outnumber all the other pirates in the East Blue." Ouch. Shots have been fired. If my chest wasn't hurting so much I'd probably be laughing out loud. I can only manage a smile as the other pirates yell at Luffy with rage.

"Oh boy...now you've really pissed them off." Sanji says.

"Guess I was right." Luffy says. I finally let out a laugh before wincing in pain; I think I'm starting to like this Luffy kid. The Kreig pirates start to charge at us but Kreig tells them to stay put.

"Ghin!" Kreig barks. "You take care of that cook; the little boy is all mine!"

"I understand, Don Kreig." Ghin responds.

Sanji stares at him when Luffy suddenly appears in my vision. "Here, I'll hold your pet for you." he says. "You take care of Ghin."

I scowl at him. _'Dammit...'m not...a pet!'_ He gently takes me from Sanji and steps away out of harm's way.

"Straw Hat." Kreig says, making Luffy face him. "You can try your Devil Fruit magic all you want but it won't work on me." he says. "Once you experience the full force of the strongest in the East Blue, you'll truly understand power!" Big words; and I have a feeling that he'll be able to back them up.

"You're voice is starting to piss me off." Luffy growls. "I'm gonna kick your ass; simple as that."

Kreig scowls and I turn back to Sanji and Ghin. Ghin starts to spin one of his tonfa, faster and faster. "I'm sorry Sanji, but I can't be defeated." he says. Little late for apologies, don't ya think?

"Keep telling yourself that." Sanji mutters, lighting his cigarette. "And trust me, you _and_ your Captain are gonna pay for hurting my friend."

My eyes widen slightly as he sends me a small glance, _'Sanji...'_

Ghin runs at Sanji to strike and Sanji kicks out at him. Ghin jumps back and slams his right tonfa into the ground, Sanji barely able to dodge. He pulls the tonfa out of the wood and swings at him again, barely missing Sanji. "You son of a-" Sanji spins and sweeps his leg through the air, but Ghin spins in the air and finally makes contact.

I squeak as he pins Sanji to the ground with his tonfa over his neck. Luffy and I watch as Sanji chokes on the ground from the hit and Ghin simply sits on the ground next to him. "I warned you." Ghin says, beginning to spin his second tonfa for the final strike. "Now, die!" Just as Ghin leans over to strike, Sanji spits his cigarette out, the burning end tapping Ghin's forehead.

I grin as Sanji uses his hands to flip out from under the tonfa and land a sharp kick onto Ghin's head. But my breath hitches when Ghin tightens his grip on one of his tonfa and slams it right into Sanji's side at the last second.

 _'No!'_

Both of them fall to the ground. I squirm half-heartedly in Luffy's grip. "Hey, calm down, you're still hurt." Luffy says, looking down at me.

"He kicked Ghin in the head!"

"Is he still alive?"

"Shut up!" Kreig barks. "You should know why I trust Ghin out of all me crew." he says. "Ghin is a cool-headed cold-hearted demon and he never quits!" As he says those words, Ghin stands up. Sanji on the other hand, can only get to his knees. I can't imagine how much damage those tonfa did to him!

Sanji feebly gets to his feet, a hand on his middle, "That wasn't...too bad." he rasps out with a smirk. "Let me know when you're ready to really fight." Sanji, now is _not_ the time to be taunting him! Ghin licks his lips and smiles.

"Hey, he's just sitting there." I look up at Luffy, who's looking at Kreig, sitting calmly on a piece of his ship. Luffy grins and gently puts me down. "Now it's ass-kicking time!" And with that, Luffy charges towards Kreig. I don't think that's such a good idea…

Kreig smirks and flicks something into the water. A split second later, the water explodes in front of Luffy and a gunshot is heard. The bullet bounces straight off Luffy and throws him right back to our platform. Told you…

Kreig laughs and Luffy growls, slamming his hat on the ground. "You bastard! Fight me!"

Kreig grins, "Fight you? I really don't have the patience for your stupid games."

My ears twitch as I catch movement in the corner of my eye. I turn towards Sanji just in time to see Ghin slam his tonfa into him, right in the same spot as before. "Pika…!" I limp towards him on all fours as he lies on the ground, coughing and hacking up blood. "Pika pi…" I say worriedly.

Sanji manages to sit up and pushes me behind him, glaring up at Ghin. "Go ahead…" he says softly. "You hit like a girl anyway." Sanji, seriously! This is just like the swordsman guy against Mihawk; just stay down!

Ghin spins his tonfa again. "Good-bye, Sanji." he says and swings the weapon. Sanji suddenly shoves me away and uses his hands to flip out of the way easily. A bit too easily if you ask me.

"What was that?" Sanji demands. "Your pity?" Ghin grits his teeth and Sanji kicks him right between the shoulder blades. "I'm not dead yet!" That's weird...did Ghin miss on purpose? But why?

I snap out of my my thoughts as Sanji chokes in pain. "Oh no!" Luffy exclaims. My eyes widen as Sanji falls to the ground, wrapping his arms around himself. I could hear bones cracking; his ribs were probably close to puncturing his lungs by now! I crawl towards him just as Ghin approaches him. He smacks me away with his foot and wraps his hand around Sanji's neck, hovering over him. "You...damn...bastard…" Sanji croaks.

We all wait with baited breath for him to strike...when tears start falling from Ghin's eyes. "I can't…" he says softly.

No way…

Ghin looks up at Kreig, "This man saved my life." he sobs. "I can't Don Kreig!" he shouts. "I won't do it!" Well what do you know...he really does have a heart after all.

"What did you say?!" Kreig roars.

"I'm sorry captain!" Ghin yells tearfully. "I won't kill him!" I slowly but surely get on all fours as Ghin drops his weapons and puts his hands on his teary face. "He treated me with such respect and kindness…" he continues. "I've always been loyal to you...trusting me as your Chief Commander was the honor of my life...I've obeyed every order up to this day, and I could never live with myself if I killed this man."

I can't believe it...was this really the same guy who held a gun to Zeff's head a few minutes ago? The same guy who kicked me and beat Sanji to a pulp? I feel a smile tug at my lips; humans certainly were strange.

"Please, I beg of you!" Ghin pleaded. "Let me disobey, just this once!" He looks directly at his captain. "Please Captain...can't we just leave?"

Kreig roars and gets to his feet, making me flinch. "You little son of a bitch!" he yells. "You defy my orders and then tell me what to do?! Pathetic!" Yeah, I had a feeling that Kreig wouldn't be swayed that easily. This was the guy who brought this whole fiasco on the restaurant that saved his life after all. "You're no longer my Chief Commander!" Kreig yells, holding up a plate of his armor towards us. "Men, step aside!" he orders.

Ghin stares at Kreig in horror, "No! Not the gas!" he yells. Wait, gas? That didn't sound good!

"Poison Gas?" Luffy asks in horror. All the Kreig pirates scurry and swim around yelling about getting masks on.

"The only thing that matters in a battle is victory." Kreig says. "Even if your own men have to die."

"He's insane." Sanji says softly. I watch as Ghin reaches inside his jacket and pulls out a gas mask.

"Might as well throw that away Ghin!" Kreig yells. "You're no longer worthy to be a Kreig pirate!"

Luffy runs towards Kreig to get a hit in, but Kreig simply breaks the mast he was running on and fires at him, forcing him back to the platform where we are. "Ghin!" Luffy calls. "You don't have to listen to that blowhard...cause I'm gonna kick his ass!"

Ghin grits his teeth, "No! My captain cannot be defeated! He is the strongest man alive and I respect his punishment!" Oh, don't start that crap again! Your life is on the line here!

"Snap out of it!" Sanji yells. "He's going to kill you!"

"And I deserve it!" Ghin responds instantly. "Obeying my emotions meant betraying my captain; if I were in his place I would do the same thing." Ghin swiftly throws his mask into the ocean. "Death is the only honor I have left." You idiot! Honor isn't worth your life! This jerk isn't worth your loyalty, no matter how strong he is!

Kreig simply grins and takes aim. "MH-5 Poison Gas Bomb, fire!" he yells and a giant warhead flies towards us. Everyone scrambles for cover while Luffy grabs two masks from two random pirates and tosses them to Sanji and Ghin. But when he does, his gaze lands on me.

I can still barely move and I'm pretty sure those masks won't fit me; what do I do?! Maybe I could jump in the ocean or hold my breath or-

Luffy runs over to me and picks me up along with a broken plank of wood. "What are you doing?!" Sanji demands.

"Saving your pet!" Luffy responds. Arceus dammit, _I'm not a pet!_ He balances me on the plank and looks at me seriously, "Hang on; this is gonna be a bumpy ride." he says.

"Pika…?"

He stretches his arm back, the plank of wood and me balancing on his palm and my eyes widen. "Gum Gum…" he yells. I exchange a fearful glance with Sanji and grip the wood tightly. "...Mini Slingshot!" he yells and he throws me as hard as he can. I can only scream as I soar through the air.

A purple cloud of poison surrounds the Baratie before the restaurant and Sanji shrink out of sight.

* * *

 **Congratulations! Your Pika-chan learned Iron Tail! ...And is now lost at sea...uh...yay?**

 ***awkward silence* Um, review please!**


	8. Lost and Found

***dies from the amount of favs and follows* I seriously cannot stress enough how awesome you guys are! Thank you sooo much!**

 **Also, to the reviewer who asked if Pika-chan was going to have its own arc? Of course Pika-chan will have one, but it will be a while, like, 'not until Sabaody' a while, so sit tight. Pika-chan will get snippets of memories here and there, but we won't learn about its home for a while. Hope that clears things up.**

* * *

This marks the second time I've been lost at sea. I'm not sure if I was even at sea when I woke up on the Baratie but I definitely have had the worst luck since then. Hopefully this wouldn't happen again. Thankfully, I landed with the wood Luffy threw me on so I wouldn't drown, but that didn't soothe me much. I just had to wait until I reached land or came across a boat. Then maybe I could find a way back to the Baratie...if it was still there after that fight.

From the looks of it, Sanji and Luffy were the only capable fighters there; I hoped they could pull through. Hopefully Sanji's not too torn up about me being out here. I couldn't help but feel guilty thinking that. Sanji was my friend. Now I had practically abandoned him when he probably needed my help!

I sigh and lie on the piece of wood, wincing as I put weight on my stomach and chest; this injury was probably gonna take a while to fully heal. I close my eyes and just let myself drift; something will happen eventually I'm sure. I fall asleep pretty quickly due to the sun and my injury, but I hear some muffled voices in the background after a while.

"What is that? A yellow rat?"

"I don't know, but it looks stranded; stop the boat." I feel a pair of arms carefully pick me up off the wood and lie me down on a bigger piece of wood, obviously a boat. Thank Arceus.

"Well, at least this thing doesn't seem dangerous…"

"It's actually pretty cute." Ugh, if I had the energy I'd give them both a good shock.

"This little guy looks hurt pretty badly." I wince as I feel a hand press on my middle making the pain flare up again.

"I think we have some extra bandages, hold on!" A few moments later, my middle is all bandaged up; the medicine they gave me has made me feel much better too. I think I can open my eyes now. I open them and three faces appear over me.

"It's waking up!" One guy with sunglasses exclaims. I recognize the other two, the one with a long nose and the swordsman with green hair. Weren't these guys Luffy's friends?

"Pika…" I groan and slowly sit up.

"Say, this little guy looks familiar…" Long Nose comments. "Haven't we seen you somewhere before?"

"It's probably nothing; it's just a rat." Swordsman says dismissively. Hmph, maybe if I shock him again he'll remember.

"Pika pikachu." I say, giving a nod. _'Thanks for picking me up.'_

"Aww! It's so cute!" Sunglasses gushes, patting my head. I sigh but allow him to pet me; looking like this sure was a burden, especially since I can't speak their language. I notice that Swordsman is really heavily bandaged; I'm not really surprised considering what he went through.

"So, how did a little guy like you end up all the way out here?" Long Nose asks.

"Pika pi." I respond, deciding to give a shrug. He couldn't understand me so giving a straight answer was out of the question.

"Quit talking to the rat, you look like an idiot." Swordsman comments.

"Well excuse me for being concerned." Long Nose retorts. I give him a small smile regardless and decide to get some more rest. I was still pretty wiped from being adrift for so long. I curl up and everyone leaves me alone after that.

After a while I wake up again and sneak to the back of the boat. I peek out from the back railing and see nothing but ocean. I frown slightly; guess getting back to the Baratie was going to take longer than I thought. I hope Sanji and Luffy are okay; that poison gas seemed pretty lethal from where I saw it.

Despite it being pretty inconvenient, Luffy did save my life. I probably wouldn't have made it if I had stayed where I was...but did Luffy have to throw me so far? He could've just thrown me out of range of the restaurant, not make me get lost at sea! Ah well, I'll berate him the next time I see him...if I even can see him and Sanji again.

I get up onto the railing, perching myself there and simply watch the ocean until I hear Sunglasses. "There's Arlong Park!" I turn from my perch seeing a giant tower ahead surrounded by a large gate.

"I really hope Nami's actually here…" Long Nose whimpers.

"Let's check for the Going Merry before we do anything stupid." Sunglasses suggests.

"Good idea." Long Nose agrees but Swordsman stands up.

"Let's attack." he says simply, getting his katana ready.

"Hey! I just said we shouldn't do anything stupid!" Sunglasses protests. I watch the argument and it ends with Long Nose and Sunglasses hitting Zoro over the head with two small hammers before tying him to the cabin.

"Untie me dammit!" I sweatdrop as I watch their antics. I got picked up by a pretty strange bunch. Then again, these are the guys who were friends with Luffy; I shouldn't be surprised.

"Now Zoro, you're too injured to be of any help." Long Nose says. He places his hand on Swordsman- I mean Zoro's chest making him flinch in pain to prove his point. Yeah, after getting sliced and diced by someone from the Grand Line, fighting is pretty much out of the question. "Prepare the anchor and bring us alongside the Going Merry!" Long Nose orders.

The little boat begins to head towards a ship with a goat head on it (was that weird looking thing really their ship…?) when Long Nose suddenly ducks down in fear. "What is it?" Sunglasses asks. Long Nose points to the side and I see what's got them so spooked.

"Fishmen!" They exclaim silently. I stay rooted to my spot behind the cabin; those guys definitely looked like guys you shouldn't mess with. The boat goes right past the dock, hoping not to draw attention, but that doesn't work so well as two of those Fish guys jump into the water making headway for the ship. "Let's get out of here!" Long Nose exclaims.

I gape as Sunglasses and Long Nose jump off the ship, leaving Zoro and I completely at the mercy of the fish guys. Well, more Zoro than me; they haven't seen me yet. But still, those jerks! I wait in the wings with baited breath as they take control of the ship and steer it towards a large gate where a tower labeled Arlong Park sits in the distance. Looks like I'm gonna have to swim for it to keep from being caught.

I climb over the edge of the back of the boat and hang from there; I just had to wait for the right time. The gates open and I see a small canal between the inside of the gate and the entrance itself; perfect. I let go and land in the water with a small splash. I swim underwater a few feet to my right until I'm behind the wall. I climb onto the concrete jutting out under the gate as the gate closes and I'm about to get out, but something stops me.

What were they going to do to Zoro? He was already injured enough...maybe they would let him go. I peek over the wall carefully, keeping my ears low as a giant fish guy, who I can only assume is Arlong, began interrogating Zoro. It looked like neither party was getting anywhere, but it got ten times more complicated when a familiar red head came out into the open.

That's the girl who was with Luffy in the restaurant. Zoro seems pretty shocked too at seeing her here; but the worst part? She's smiling.

"Is this human a friend of yours Nami?" Arlong asks. Ah, Nami, so that was her name.

"As if," she scoffs. "He's just another idiot who thought I was his friend before I robbed him blind." She walks forward and kneels in front of him. "You followed me all the way out here without knowing that? You really are stupid!" I wince at her tone; she definitely didn't seem like the sweet innocent looking girl I saw in the Baratie.

"So this is who you really are." Zoro says softly. I can't see his face, but it's probably devastated.

"Yep, it was all an act; and you bought the whole show." Nami says. She brings her arm forward revealing a tattoo. I squint and realize that it's the same design on the pirate flag above us. "I'm a pirate, and Arlong's navigator."

Well, this just got ten times more dramatic.

* * *

I watch as Nami smirks down at Zoro; I can't believe that girl was actually a trickster this entire time! When I saw her with the others in the restaurant she looked so happy; was that seriously just an act? Zoro can't seem to believe it either.

"She had you completely fooled!" Arlong laughs."She's cold-blooded; she even betrayed her family for money!"

My eyes widen as Nami's expression suddenly changes. Whoa, I've never seen that amount of emotion on anyone before! That's the face of someone who regrets everything they've done and have no way to fix the damage they've caused. Maybe…

"If I were you I'd just admit defeat." Arlong continues, but Zoro scoffs.

"I don't need to; I never had much trust in her to begin with." I wince; did he really mean that? Or did he see Nami's face like I did? He should have, being right in front of her and all.

"Fine, then just get the hell out of here!" Nami demands, putting on her cruel act again. Oh good, maybe this means she'll let Zoro go. Zoro suddenly pushes off the ground with his feet, propelling himself into the water.

Uh...what?

I don't think this is what Nami meant by get out of here...is he gonna be okay? He's tied up and injured, so there's no way he can swim. I glance frantically between the water and Nami. Um, do something? Hello? Nami? I fight the urge to jump in, but I'll be caught right away if I do, and there's no way I can stand up to all these guys!

I can tell by Nami's expression that she's having one heck of an inner conflict. _'C'mon Nami, do something! You can't possibly tell me that you're okay with this!'_

"That idiot!" I deflate in relief as she throws off her shoes and dives into the pool. I knew she couldn't be as bad as they made her out to be. That look in her eyes said it all. A few moments later, they both reappear, breathing heavily on the concrete ground. They're whispering to each other, but I can't pick it up. But judging by how the whispering ended with Nami kicking him and holding him up by his neck, I'm guessing it wasn't a pleasant conversation.

"Try that again and I'll make sure you die!" Nami threatens. "That's a lot of bandages; you must've been hurt pretty bad." I can pick up concern in her voice. Yep, there's no way she's a bad guy. She just can't be!

"Actually I just forgot my shirt," I can feel Zoro's grin. "I grabbed these to cover up so you wouldn't get distracted." I wince as she punches him in the stomach; yeah, he kinda deserved that one. Thankfully, Nami's able to get Arlong to lock him up saying that she would take care of him; well, I think it's safe to say that Zoro's in safe hands.

I'm about to drop down to get out of here when another fish guy comes in saying that Long Nose was spotted and got away in a place called Cocoyashi village. I look at Nami and realize that her fist is clenched and shaking; what on earth is going through this girl's head?

I plan to find out.


	9. Nami's Tale

It took me a while to find Nami. I thought a girl with red hair would be easy to find but this island is bigger than I thought. After sneaking through town for a bit I finally spot her, sitting near the edge of a cliff. I approach her and realize that she's sitting in front of a cross, marking a grave. It looks like she put a bouquet of flowers on the grave and she's simply staring at it, unmoving.

I cautiously approach her and look up at her. "Pika?"

She looks down at me, no emotion on her face whatsoever until she seems to recognize me. "Hey...aren't you that mouse thing from the sea restaurant?"

I'm actually surprised that she remembered me; this was the first time I was directly interacting with her after all. I nod and look at the grave. "Pikachu?" I ask.

"Oh," Nami looks at the grave abruptly, like she had forgotten it was there. "It's a grave." She says. Uh, yeah, I know that, who's it for? I look at her intently, urging her to elaborate and she swallows thickly. "It's...my mother's grave."

Oh...well, uh...geez, I feel like a real jerk now. I step forward so I'm in front of the grave and clasp my paws together. I close my eyes and send a silent prayer; it's the least I can do. Nami takes a shaky breath forcing me to look up at her once I'm done. She's biting her lip and her fists are clenched; I can't tell if she's angry, sad, or both.

I step forward and place my paw on her leg, giving a hint of a smile in hopes of comforting her. She looks at me when I touch her. "Pika..." _'It'll be okay...'_

Nami looks away from me, her hair hiding her eyes. "I can't take this anymore..." She utters. "I can't stand watching Arlong control my village like this..." She sounds angry, angrier than I'd ever seen. I don't think Sanji even got this mad. Nami looks at me again, "Arlong took my mother..." My eyes widen. "I'm not going to sit by and let him take my village!"

She punches the ground and the dam bursts. I listen intently as she recounts her tale to me. How her mother, Bellemere, took her and her sister in as children after a war, even though she could barely support them. How Arlong took over and imposed a tax on everyone, threatening death to anyone who couldn't pay it. And how Bellemere sacrificed her fee so Nami and her sister could live...before Arlong murdered her before Nami's eyes. Since that day, she had drawn countless maps and sea charts for Arlong, working day and night until her fingers bled to help Arlong's plans for his Fishman empire.

The story was so intense it was almost hard to believe. How could anyone go through something so awful? And as a child, no less!

"I just need 7 million berries..." Nami continues. "Just a little more and my village will finally be free." Her fists clench the grass below her. "I can do it...and then Arlong won't be able to hurt anyone anymore!"

Oh Nami...

I climb onto her lap and grasp her shirt in my tiny paws. "Pika pi..." _'I'm so sorry...'_ It's all I can say.

Nami stares down at me, a bit bewildered by my actions, but gives me a soft smile and a pat. "So you really understand me..." She rubs my ears lovingly, as if she's known me forever. "Thank you for listening." I smile back and nod. "I've never really told anyone all that before," Nami continues. "It feels good to get that off my chest."

I blink; that sounds familiar. Again, I had been given access to a story that no one had heard before. What was it about me that made people open up? I had just met Nami and I already felt like I'd known her as long as I'd known Sanji. I could faintly feel that strange feeling again; that feeling of trust. It wasn't as strong as it was with Sanji, but it was there.

Nami picks me up off her lap and places me on the ground, "Stay out of trouble, and stay away from Arlong Park, okay?" She says, giving me one more pat. No promises, but I nod anyway and she walks off. I watch her go, a frown crossing my face; I really wish there was something I could do to help her. I look in the distance, seeing the shadow of the tower of Arlong Park.

I know she told me to stay away but...maybe it wouldn't hurt to check on Zoro.

* * *

I arrive at Arlong Park and find the doors closed. I push them open as hard as I can to find...all of Arlong's men completely slaughtered…? Wow, what did I miss? Who started _this_ party? And without me?

My question is answered as I see Zoro sitting leisurely on Arlong's chair, or throne, I don't really know what to call it. He glances at me and raises his eyebrow, "Aren't you that rodent we picked up?"

I nod and wander over to him, eyeing all the dead pirates. "Pika?" I ask.

"Oh, this?" Zoro asks, gesturing to the corpses, "Yeah, they were in my way. Might as well take down the henchmen before taking down Arlong, you know?" I give him a look; this guy has no sympathy. Glad he's on our side. He looks at me again and rolls his eyes, "Talking to a rat, must be losing it."

I frown at him; so far, I'm not a fan of this guy's attitude. Plus, he took all the kills! I wanted to give these guys a thrashing too! Now what am I supposed to do with my rage-built electricity?

"Man, this is taking forever…five more minutes and I'll keel over from boredom." he moans. "Luffy, what's taking you so long?"

Wait, Luffy is coming here? I remember that Nami was with him and Zoro when they arrived at the Baratie...maybe Luffy was coming to help her! I hope to Arceus that's the case; Nami needs all the help she can get!

My ears twitch as I hear a strange voice coming from outside the wall. Zoro opens one eye and looks at the wall with me. It looked like someone with three fishing poles that was...catching himself…? Oh boy, we're dealing with a real piece of work here.

"What the hell…?" Zoro mutters walking over to the wall.

I follow and jump onto the top of the wall next to Zoro to see an octopus guy looking up at us. "Who are you? Speak up now!" he demands. His eyes widen and he points to himself, "Oh me? I'm Hachan, but my friends call me Hachi!" I sweatdrop; did he just switch personalities to answer his own question?

"You're a Fishman too?" Zoro asks.

"Yes! I'm an amazing octopus Fishman!" the octopus says (I didn't care enough to remember his name…). "And you're a human; are you a guest here?" he asks. Zoro and I both look behind us at all the slaughtered fish guys behind us. "You could say that…" Zoro answers slowly.

"Arlong isn't here, is he?" the octopus says. Wow, he bought it; this guy is more out to sea than Luffy!

"Nope, know where he is?" Zoro asks.

"He went to Cocoyashi Village to hunt down some long nosed intruder." Octopus answers. Zoro sighs, muttering under his breath; guess Long Nose is causing more trouble than he's worth.

"Alright," Zoro hops to the other side of the wall next to the octopus, "How can I get to this village?" he asks.

"Hop in, I'll take you." The octopus says pointing to a giant jar. Zoro complies and I quickly jump on his shoulder; I don't want to be left behind. Zoro looks at me questionably, probably not expecting me to perch on him.

After a nice short distance, the octopus drops us off on a dock. "Here we are, Cocoyashi Village." he announces. Zoro gets out of the jar but I still cling to his shoulder. The octopus starts to leave but he stops short. "Oh, I forgot to ask your name." he says. I feel Zoro tense up; I guess identities aren't really something you wanna trade. However, the octopus then looks confused. "What do you mean? I've told you my name!" And he swims off.

Zoro relaxes, "Weird guy…" he mutters.

"Pika…" I agree, glancing back at the retreating jar. We arrive in town and I decide that it's safe to hop off and walk on my own. However, I stay right on Zoro's heels; I don't want to end up alone again and he was the safest guy I could stick with right now.

He questions, or I guess the right word is interrogates, a few villagers, asking about a guy named Usopp. Turns out that's Long Nose's name; good to know. Anyway, Zoro gets the info he's looking for but it's not good. Apparently Usopp had been captured by Arlong and was probably dead. Well, that certainly wasn't good.

Zoro takes off, forcing me to jump back on his shoulder so I won't get left behind. He runs through the rest of the village and we head into a forest. Hopefully we'll get there in time.

* * *

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. We've been running through this forest for nearly an hour and Arlong Park is nowhere in sight! This guy's sense of direction was certainly something to behold. Seriously, how do you go right but end up going left?

At this point, I'm hoping for divine intervention to get us on the right track. My ears twitch as I hear a loud crash. Whoa, that was fast. I look around vigilantly, catching Zoro's attention as he stops running.

"What's up?" he asks.

My ears twitch even more in response, picking up more crashing noises. "Pika pika…" Those sounds...were they getting closer?

"HEY ZORO!"

We both look to the side and my eyes nearly bug out of their sockets. A ship is heading straight for us! In the middle of a forest! And who's at the helm? Luffy, of all people! I cling to Zoro's back as the ship crashes into us, dragging us for the final stretch of the ride. I squeeze my eyes shut as the boat finally crashes and completely breaks apart. I'm thrown from Zoro as wood and metal surround and bury me.

I cough as I hear Zoro get out of the rubble. "What...the hell...were you doing?!" he demands, probably yelling at Luffy. I hear him say something about picking up Nami but I'm being crushed; I need to get out. I push up against the wood covering me, but there's too much of it. I can only managed to lift it a tiny bit. Sawdust showers onto me and I cough as I push harder.

"Ah geez…" I hear Zoro mutter. Suddenly, a hand reaches through the rubble, grabs me by the scruff and yanks me out. I shake my head, blinking in the light as Zoro holds me. "Can't even handle a little wood?"

I scowl at him; it wasn't my fault that I was this tiny! "Pikachu…" I mutter irritably.

"Pika-chan...?"

My frown disappears as I hear a familiar voice. "Pika-chan, is that you?"

No...it couldn't be...not all the way out here!

I look up, and sure enough, Sanji's standing next to Luffy. He breaks into a relieved smile as his gaze falls on me. "Pika-chan!"

Zoro drops me and I run towards him. "Pika!" I squeal happily as he kneels down and scoops me into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" Sanji exclaims.

"Pikachu!" _'You and me both!'_

"See? I knew we'd find you here!" Sanji and I look to see Luffy grinning at me.

"Shut up! There's no way you could've known that!" Sanji snaps, his grip around me tightening. "Pika-chan could've been lost at sea forever!"

Okay, would you mind not choking me, Sanji? I still give Luffy a small glare, "Pika pika…" _'Did you have to throw me so far, idiot?'_ I growl.

Luffy pouts, "We would've found you eventually..." He mutters before perking up. "Oh yeah, where are Usopp and Johnny? Weren't they with you?"

I perk up at the name and glance at Zoro, "Oh no…" he mutters getting to his feet, "C'mon, we've gotta hurry!"

"Why, what's wrong?" Luffy asks.

"That dumbass got caught by Arlong!" Zoro says urgently. "We've gotta hurry before they kill him!"

"Pika pika…" I say worriedly. Usopp was the one who picked me up while I was stranded and patched me up after all.

"You're too late…" We all turn to the unfamiliar voice; it's Sunglasses. Or, I guess he's Johnny. He falls to his knees. "Big bro Usopp...is dead…" he chokes out. "Nami...murdered him!"

* * *

 ***plays dramatic music***

 **Yeah, Pika-chan's a big softie when it comes to tragic backstories. Hell, even I melt into a little pile of goo whenever a character goes through shit like Nami did! Now if Oda would just reveal more about Sanji's past...(I WANNA KNOW ABOUT HIS NORTH BLUE HOME DAMMIT!)**

 **Review!**


	10. Enough is Enough

"Big bro Usopp...is dead…Nami murdered him!"

Everything seems to freeze in time. No...it couldn't be true...not Nami...she couldn't have done something like that! Johnny starts babbling about how Nami is a traitor and how she killed Usopp until Luffy grabs the front of his shirt.

"Don't say another word or you'll regret it!" Luffy threatens. "She didn't kill Usopp, she wouldn't do that to her friend!"

"But I know what I saw!" Johnny protests.

I clench my paws around Sanji's jacket as a conflicted frown comes to my face. "Pika pi…" _'Nami...it can't be true...'_ After everything she told me, she couldn't have killed one of her friends! It had to be a lie! It had to!

"What was that about friends?" We all turn and there she is.

"Nami!" Luffy exclaims.

"What are you doing here?" she asks irritably.

"What do you mean?" Luffy asks, "You're our friend; we came to get you."

Nami scoffs, "What a pest…"

Luffy tenses. "Nami…?" I fully face her in Sanji's arms; she has a dead look in her eyes, like all her emotions and feelings had been sucked out of her by force.

"Friends? Don't make me laugh; you're just pathetic." I visibly wince at her tone. That sounded nothing like the Nami who talked to me a few hours ago, the Nami who lost her mother and was risking everything to buy back her village from the pirate that killed her.

"Damn you...you killed big bro Usopp!" Johnny yells.

"Yep, that's right." Nami responds without missing a beat. "So why don't you kill me and get your revenge?" What? That response definitely catches Johnny off guard. Nami twirls her staff casually, "Word to the wise; thanks to your friend's stupidity, Arlong is planning to kill Zoro and his entire crew." she says. "So, you can either stay here and die, or get off this island and live; it's your choice."

I was tensing up with every word she said. Nami, just tell them the truth! Tell them like you told me, you don't have to do this alone!

"Her heartless face is so hot!"

Wait, what?

I look up and am greeted by hearts in Sanji's eyes. "Nami~! It's me Sanji! Let's run away together!"

"Pika pika!" _'Haven't you ever heard of time and place?!'_

"Can it Romeo, this isn't the time or place for that!" Thank you, Zoro.

"Excuse me," Sanji says irritably. "Love is like a hurricane, so back off- hey, look at me when I'm talking to you!" Sanji, you can argue/oggle later, we have more pressing issues!

"Nami, where's Usopp?" Zoro asks.

"With the fishes." Nami answers curtly.

"Dammit, cut the crap!" Zoro snaps, unsheathing his sword and charging her. Whoa, Zoro I thought we were all friends here!

Sanji places me on the ground and quickly stops Zoro with a kick that he narrowly dodges. "How pathetic…" Sanji mutters. "A swordsman striking a lady." I deflate with a sigh; here we go…

"Idiot, you're starting to piss me off!" Zoro retorts. Don't even bother Zoro, there's no reasoning with him when it comes to women.

Sanji chuckles, "Well, if someone had stopped me that easily, I'd be mad too." I would say that this wasn't the place to start a fight, but damn! I haven't heard Sanji give a comment that witty in a long time! Need some lotion for that burn, Zoro?

"Better watch your mouth." Zoro says dangerously.

"I'll say whatever I want bastard." Sanji bites back.

Okay, I think that's enough. I can practically see the storm clouds forming between them. I jump between them and look at them. "Pika pika, pikachu!" _'Guys, this isn't the time to be fighting!'_

"Better listen to your pet; quit bickering and leave while you can." Nami says coldly. (Hey! Not a pet!) "You have no right to butt into this island's affairs; just take your ship and get out, you're nothing but eyesores."

My expression becomes both saddened and conflicted. "Pika…" _'Why Nami…? What's making you say these things?'_

"Sleepy." We all turn to Luffy to find that he's fallen over and folded his arms behind his head. Really? Here and now? Well, I'm actually not that surprised. "I'm not gonna mess with this island's problems, they don't matter to me." Luffy says. "But I'm not leaving without you." A smile tugs at my face; this kid really didn't know when to quit.

"Fine! Then just go ahead and die!" Nami explodes and she runs off. I make to run after her but Sanji holds his foot in front of me. I look up at him and he shakes his head, taking a drag of his cigarette. I sigh and watch her go; I hope she doesn't get herself hurt even more.

Zoro sits right in the middle of the road near Luffy, proclaiming that he's staying put with Luffy. Fine with me; I'm not giving up on Nami that easily either. Sanji walks over to a tree and sits against the base in the shade. I follow and hop onto his lap and he pets my head. It's then that he finally notices the bandages around my middle. I had almost forgotten about them, they were doing such a good job at numbing my injury. "You sure you're okay Pika-chan?" he asks.

I nod; to be honest, I think my injury has just about healed up. It only feels like a small bruise compared to earlier. Sanji helps me unwrap the bandages and sure enough, I only have a tiny mark left to show for being kicked. Phew!

Just then, a thought hits me; what the heck is Sanji doing all the way out here? What about Kreig? What about the Baratie? "Pika, pikachu?" I ask, gesturing to the remains of the boat. Sanji looks confused and I inwardly groan. I point to the boat, to Luffy, and then to him. "Pika pi?" _'Why are you here?'_

He's silent for a minute but finally puts the pieces together, "Oh, are you wondering why I'm here?" he asks. I nod fighting the urge to roll my eyes. I hate that I have to give vague signs of what I'm saying; it really gets on my nerves after a while. "Well, Luffy defeated Krieg and Ghin left along with all the other pirates; the restaurant, the cooks, and the geezer are fine." I deflate in relief; thank Arceus. "And I decided to join Luffy's crew after that."

I frown and tilt my head. What happened to 'I can't leave this place yet'?

"Pika?" _'Why?'_ I ask.

"Well, I'm not gonna find the All Blue by working in a restaurant." Sanji says. I roll my eyes; about time he realized that. That dream of his is totally more worth chasing than staying in a restaurant all his life. I look up at him as he pets my head, "And, I had to make sure you were okay."

Wait...he left... because he wanted to find me?

Sanji smiles at me, "Don't give me that look, you're my partner; did you think I was just gonna sit on my ass and hope that you would swim back to me?"

I stare at him in amazement as I feel that warm feeling inside me grow stronger, only this time, it's my trust for him. _'Sanji...'_

"And don't worry; I gave Luffy a good kick across the restaurant for throwing you like that." he finishes with a chuckle. I knew that he cared about me, I care about him too after all, but leaving the Baratie for me? A smile grows on my face and I leap up, nuzzling Sanji's cheek.

Sanji laughs and gives me a little hug. "I'm glad I found you." he says.

"Pika!" _'I'm glad too.'_ I slide back onto his lap and look out onto the path; now we had to do something about Nami. Zoro bids farewell, to Johnny and the other guy who was with him and we all sit in silence.

"Well, what do you think?" Sanji suddenly asks, breaking the silence. "Why was she crying?" My ears twitch; crying?

Zoro looks at him slightly, "I don't know; was she?" he responds.

"She was in her heart." Sanji responds. I inwardly roll my eyes. I know that she's upset, I could tell just from her voice alone; but did he have to make it sound so cheesy?

Zoro scoffs, "If she was they were tears of guilt for killing Usopp." I frown; I'm seriously surprised that Zoro still thinks she was serious. She saved his life, so why would she not save Usopp?

"You really are dense…" Sanji mutters. "Do you seriously think Nami could've killed Usopp?" Zoro stays silent for a few moments. "What about you Pika-chan?" I look up at Sanji. "Do you think Nami killed him?"

I frown and shake my head firmly. "Pi." There was no way Nami was a killer. I knew that for a fact; I still had that feeling around her. That feeling of trust. I wouldn't still be feeling it if she was who she said she is.

Zoro gives me a look, probably annoyed that he was asking me for an opinion, but he shrugs, "Who knows." he says. "I always thought of her as a small-time crook who wouldn't hurt a fly, but maybe she just snapped."

I tilt my head; I'm not so sure, but the snapped part definitely makes sense based on her childhood and pretty much her entire life. I'm surprised she hasn't completely broken down yet.

"Wait, what'd you say?" Sanji asks. He suddenly lightly pushes me off his lap as he gets up abruptly. "She's not small-time!" I gape; are you kidding me?!

"Is she all you think about?!" Zoro demands, getting his sword ready to block Sanji's oncoming kick and there's a muffled thump followed by a squeak of pain (that's not me, mind you). My eyes widen I sweatdrop; when did Usopp get here? And how did he end up between Sanji and Zoro?

"He's alive!" Sanji says in shock.

"Well he was...I hope he still is…" Zoro says nervously. My ears droop as Usopp falls to the ground. I walk up to him and prod his face for some kind of response. Well, he's twitching, that's a good sign.

A few minutes later, Luffy is holding Usopp a frantic look on his face. "Usoooopp! Did Nami do this to you?!" he asks, shaking him. Uh, I don't think that's good for someone who's face just got smashed.

"Sorry," Sanji says, "Zoro and I did that." I frown at him from my perch on his shoulder; that's not really something you should be smiling about.

"No, you did!" Zoro retorts.

"Luffy…" I look down as Usopp finally wakes up. "You're here…"

Luffy grins, "Yep, sure am!"

"I'm here too; hi there!" Sanji chimes in.

I quickly hide behind Sanji's head as Usopp shoots to his feet, "One of these day's I'll kill you!" he growls, glaring at Sanji. This guy could be pretty scary when he was mad.

"Oh good, you just made a full recovery!" Sanji says, unfazed by his anger. That gives me the courage to peek out from my hiding place.

"Shut up!" Usopp yells.

"Oh and by the way, we heard that Nami killed you." Zoro brings up casually.

"Stupid Johnny; he was just lying the whole time!" Luffy exclaims. Well that, or he needs to get his sunglasses checked.

Usopp looks at the ground. "Well, in a way...it is the truth." he says seriously. "But I'm alive...because she saved my life…" We all listen as he explains how Nami made to stab him but stabbed her hand instead to fool Arlong.

I could feel Sanji tense up at the explanation; hands are a precious treasure to him, especially his own. Seeing someone else damage their hands probably gives him some terrifying images of what could happen to his hands if he's not careful.

"She must have some hidden motive for hanging around a bunch of Fishmen." Usopp says after he's done.

"So now what?" Zoro asks, "We destroy Arlong Park?"

My ears droop. "Pika…" Uh, I wouldn't go that far just yet...not that I would mind tearing that place to the ground...

Usopp waves his hands frantically, "Whoa, don't you think we should find out what's up with Nami?"

"It doesn't matter." A voice says. We all turn to see a lady with blue hair standing before us. "No matter what you do, Arlong's rule won't come to an end."

"Who's that?" Luffy asks. I tilt my head; I have a feeling I caught a glimpse of her nearby when I was sitting with Nami at Bellemere's grave. Or maybe I was just seeing things.

"Nami's big sister." Usopp answers. Oh, that makes sense; I guess I did see her. I give Sanji's head a small smack with my tail when hearts start appearing in his eyes again; seriously Sanji...time and place.

Nami's sister offers to tell us about what's going on with Nami, hoping it will get us to leave but I inwardly snort. I know it will only give them even more motivation to stay. Anyone who wouldn't stay behind after hearing it has no heart.

"I'll pass." Luffy begins to walk off. "I don't care about her past." Um, okay?

"Where are you going?" Sanji asks.

"For a walk." Luffy answers simply. My ears perk up and I jump off Sanji's shoulder, trotting after him. I give Sanji a knowing look along with a nod and his confused face becomes calm again. I want to go find Nami, and Luffy would probably be able to find her. I guess after reading my expressions for a few months, Sanji was pretty used to it. But that didn't mean I always got my point across. If only we could talk directly…

I walk next to Luffy and he doesn't seem to mind me tagging along. I look up at him. "Pika?"

He glances down at me. "Nami's gotta be around here somewhere." he says. I can't tell if it's to himself or to me but I feel a bit relieved anyway. We pass by a few more of those fish guys but they don't give us any trouble. I have to keep sparks from flying from my cheeks; these were the guys who had been hurting Nami all these years…

We enter the village just as a guy wearing a hat with a pinwheel (what…?) is leading a bunch of Marines through the village. Luffy and I turn to them once they pass us.

"A pinwheel…?" Luffy asks softly. Yeah, I don't know either man. "That's so cool!"

I nearly fall over at the sudden exclamation. This kid was really a piece of work. At least he's reliable in a fight. We walk a little more until we stop under a palm tree. Luffy leans against it and I just sit next to him, our thoughts flying around.

I wonder how the Baratie's doing? I have to remember to ask Sanji for more details on how the fight went, since I missed out on the end of it. Shame too, I really wanted to rain lightning on that Kreig guy… Well, I was able to smash that weird Pearl Guy to pieces so I guess that's something.

After a few minutes, we see a group of people gathering around a few feet in front of us. Luffy and I light up; Nami's with them! My smile fades as my ears pick up the conversation they're having.

Nami's sister shot...

Arlong working with the Marines...

all of Nami's money for the village stolen...

My smile fades as Luffy and I walk up to them. I have to remind myself that Luffy didn't hear what they were saying to keep from shocking him when he walks up to Nami with a big smile on his face. "Hey Nami!" He greets. "Need help with anything?"

I flinch and step back in fear as Nami turns around and glares at Luffy. "Why are you still here?" she grabs the front of his vest. "Stay out of my business and just get off our island!" she screams. She throws him aside and runs off.

"Pika!" _'Nami, wait!'_ I take off after her, staying right on her heels. The aura she's giving off is really scaring me. Anger. Betrayal. Fear. Hysteria. It was all boiling inside her and reaching a critical point. She was at the end of her rope! She needed help! "Pika pi!" I call.

"Stay away!" she yells, not looking back at me. I frown slightly but I don't stop; if I leave her alone now, who knows what will happen! Arlong Park comes into view and I quickly skid to a stop as she enters, slowing to a walk. I quickly hide behind the door and peek out.

Nami storms up to Arlong, "That Marine maggot you sent stole every last berry I had!" she yells. I can practically feel her glare. She grabs the front of Arlong's shirt. "What happened to all that crap about dying before you'd ever break a promise when it comes to money?!"

Arlong doesn't even flinch. "Refresh my memory, did I break a promise?" he asks, almost too gleefully.

"Don't play dumb with me! I know you-" Nami's cut off as Arlong's giant webbed hand grabs her face, covering her mouth. It takes everything for me not to bolt out of there as I see his glare from where I'm hiding.

"Tell me…" he says dangerously. "When exactly did I break that promise?" I let out a low growl as Arlong and all the other fish guys start laughing. I can see tears dripping onto the ground and my anger finally peaks. I've had it with these stupid sardines! But just as I step forward…

"Are you gonna run out on me?" Arlong asks. "Because if you do I'll kill everyone in that little village of yours. Understand?" I freeze in my tracks. That bastard! I step back, sparks flying from my cheeks; if I stepped in now I would just make things worse for Nami and everyone on this island.

Nami wrenches herself out of his grasp and runs out of Arlong Park; I quickly follow. It's taking everything I have to keep up with her; running from kids is one thing but Nami is nearly an adult! Her fear is building up, overriding her anger for now; it's so much fear that even I'm starting to feel scared.

In no time, we arrive back at the village; all the people are outside and...are they carrying weapons? Are they...planning a rebellion? I nearly slam into Nami's legs as she slows to a walk. "Wait everyone!" I look up at her; she's plastered a smile on her face and acting like nothing's wrong.

Nami…

She starts talking about how she can get the money back and how it's not that much and how she'll be fine and...oh Arceus Nami, please just stop! You don't deserve to have this much pressure on your shoulders, you don't have to carry this alone!

The guy with the pinwheel hat suddenly steps forward and wraps one arm around Nami in a hug. "You've done enough. You've fought very well." he says softly. "Set yourself free from this village." He lets her go and Nami's sister steps up.

"Please Nami; you have great talent and you have a dream! Just leave!" she says.

"No!" Nami yells. "I won't let you go! I'm not letting those monster hurt anyone else!" she pulls out a dagger, pointing it at the villagers.

I slowly walk up and place my paw on her leg, "Pika…" She looks down at me and I slowly shake my head. She can't fight this battle alone anymore, and even if she could, it wouldn't stop these people.

The pinwheel guy pulls out his own sword. "Let's get them!" he yells. "We may die, but we will give them hell!" The villagers cheers and run past us, waving their weapons. I can't help but close my eyes as they pass us; if they go through with this, I can already tell that hardly any will come back.

Nami drops her dagger and falls to her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks. I go up beside her; her face is completely blank, as if her mind and heart had just snapped in half together. She grits her teeth and her eyes fall on her tattoo. She grips it, her nails digging into her bare skin. Her anger is finally taking over. "Arlong…" she mutters softly. "Arlong…"

My eyes widen as she picks up her dagger starts stabbing her arm. "Pika!"

"Arlong! Arlong! ARLONG!" she screams, getting louder and louder as blood pours from her arm.

I run over and grab the arm holding the dagger. "Pika pika!" _'Nami, stop!'_

She doesn't respond and throws me off with an angry scream, but before she can stab herself again, someone grabs her wrist.

It's Luffy.

"I thought I told you to leave." Nami says lowly.

"Yep, you sure did." Luffy answers simply.

Nami's fingers dig into the dirt road. "This has nothing to do with you...so just leave!" She begins flinging dirt back at Luffy, halfheartedly yelling for him to leave.

I can't take this anymore. I jump forward into her lap and cling to her, nuzzling my face in her shirt in a kind of hug. I look up at her, my face pleading. _'Please Nami, you've done enough...stop fighting it.'_

She looks down at me, tears still flowing down her face. She places a hand over her mouth to repress her sobs that she had held back for so long. "Luffy…" she whimpers, her helplessness and despair finally showing through. "...help me…"

Luffy silently takes his straw hat off and places it on her head. "Of course." he says dangerously but sincerely. He takes a few steps back and takes a deep breath. "HE'S GONNA PAY!"

I grin; that's exactly what I wanted to hear. I look around with Nami in amazement as Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji are all around us, most likely having seen the whole thing. I look up at Nami and give her a smile and a firm nod. There was no need to worry now. I quickly catch up to Luffy and the others.

"Let's go." Luffy orders.

Zoro, Usopp and Sanji all respond, ready for anything. "Right."

"Pika!" I chime in. I walk between Luffy and Sanji, my adrenaline and anger coursing through my body. I was ready for anything. I had a lot of electricity building up inside me and I was itching to let it all out. We weren't going to let these bastards hurt Nami anymore.

We arrive at Arlong Park, the villagers part to let us through, and Luffy punches the door down. "Now, which one of you is Arlong?"

* * *

 **I've always found it fascinating that Pokémon almost have a sixth sense when it comes to intense humans emotions around those they care about. It's almost like they can connect mentally to humans if they want!**

 **Review and let's get this epic battle started!**


	11. Electric Water

**Real quick, before I forget: [CREDIT TO VickH ON DEVIANTART FOR THE COVER IMAGE]**

 **NOW LET'S FIGHT!**

* * *

I twitch anxiously as Luffy storms forward. I've never had such a motive to fight before and it was starting to make me want to explode! I smirk as Luffy punches Arlong right in the face, sending him flying into the wall. "That's for making our navigator cry!" he yells.

At that point all the fish guys on land lunge at Luffy and I see a few getting ready to jump out of the water; easy pickings. I shoot a bolt of electricity at the ones in the water, their dampness frying them extra good while Sanji easily takes out the ones on land. Ah, that felt good; who else wants some!

"You just had to rush ahead of us didn't you?" Sanji says.

"Don't worry, I can handle this." Luffy says lowly.

"I'm not worried," Sanji says. "I just don't want you hogging all the action." You can say that again! I want to shock more fish!

It's pretty fun to watch the fish guys realize that Zoro and Usopp are still alive; octopus finally figured out that he got tricked, slow guy. Unfortunately, Arlong says he's not planning to give Nami up, so I guess we'll have to do this the hard way.

Octopus guy does some weird horn call and the water starts to get restless. All the people start freaking out as well; if it's a water creature, I can take it down with one shot. A giant rises out the water revealing...a cow? It has tears in its eyes and a big bump on its head, like it had just returned from getting beaten up. I tilt my head; were we supposed to be afraid of this thing? It looked so upset that I'd kinda feel bad for shocking it.

It suddenly flinches when it lays eyes on Sanji and Luffy. "Look who's back." Luffy says.

"Must be a friend of the Fishmen." Sanji says.

The cow starts crying tears of fright and sinks back into the water, swimming away. Guess it must have run into Luffy and Sanji on their way here. "Hey! Where are you going?!" the octopus protests. "You can't just leave!"

"Leaving? What a shame…" Arlong says, causing the cow to stop. "But I suppose if you want to run, who am I to stop you?"

The cow suddenly growls and lunges back towards us. I growl and sparks fly from my cheeks, but Luffy punches his fists together. "This one's mine." He quickly plants both his feet in the concrete and begins spinning his upper torso around like a screw.

"He's got a plan, right?" Sanji asks.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Zoro says.

Yeah, I do too; I really hope this doesn't backfire on him.

He then grabs the cow's horns. "Time for something new!" Luffy yells.

Oh no, please don't tell me this is going where I think it's going! Sanji, Zoro, Usopp and I clear the scene as Luffy tightens his grip on the cow.

"Gum Gum...Pinwheel!" I watch as he spins the cow around and around, knocking away any remaining fish guys before throwing the cow out to the sea, destroying more of Arlong Park in the process. He was definitely stronger than when I last saw him on the Baratie! "C'mon Arlong, I came here to teach you a lesson, not fight your cronies!" Luffy yells, pointing at him. "So step up!"

"Oh I will, don't worry." Arlong says dangerously.

I shudder while the others berate Luffy for coming up with such a stupid plan. I really don't like that look in his eyes. "Uh-oh." Luffy says. I look down at his feet and grimace; uh-oh is right! I guess he's a bit too strong for his own good…

I watch as Arlong sends his last three henchmen at us, including the octopus and wave to the others. "Pika pi…" _'Uh guys...we have a problem...'_

"Pika-chan." I flinch and look up at Sanji. "Get back and hide somewhere; we'll take care of this."

My jaw drops; excuse me? Are you seriously telling me to sit out?

"Just do it Pika-chan; don't make me throw you out of here myself." Sanji says sharply.

My eyes widen as I see Sanji's eyes harden; I understand. The last time I fought I ended up all the way out in the middle of nowhere. Even though it wasn't my fault, I must've worried him pretty badly. He didn't want to lose me again. I grimace and grudgingly sneak over to the side of the pool where an arch is. He may have told me to sit out, but that didn't mean I couldn't jump in when I was needed. I just had to wait for the right moment.

I watch as the octopus squirts a whole bunch of ink at Luffy, Zoro and Sanji (Usopp ran off to hide somewhere a while back; coward…). Sanji and Zoro dodge it, but Luffy isn't so lucky considering his feet are stuck.

"I CAN'T SEE!" Luffy yells, rubbing his eyes.

"Idiot! Why didn't you dodge that?" Zoro demands. I smack my forehead; how did they not notice?!

The octopus picks up a giant piece of debris and throws it right at Luffy, but luckily, Sanji's there to break it. I sigh in relief and Luffy grins. "Sanji that was so awesomely awesome!"

That's Sanji for ya.

"Looks like I picked one hell of an idiot to be my captain." Sanji says. Yes, yes you did; all of you did. "But our idiot captain is a far better man who doesn't prey on a lady."

One of the fish guys scoffs. "You rushed into certain death for some lousy girl?" Oh buddy, better watch what you say.

"If you insult Nami one more time, I'll be sure to turn you Fishmen into Fish Sticks." Sanji warns. You tell him Sanji.

By the looks of things, Zoro's taking on the octopus and Usopp's gonna handle the other fish guy, one with weird lips. Usopp was trying to free Luffy by pulling him but accidently let go, making Luffy rebound right into the fish guy. So Usopp did what he apparently did best: he ran, the fish guy right on his tail. Eh, I'm sure he'll be fine; he cheated death once before I'm sure he could do it again.

Arlong then gets up from his seat. "You morons are a pathetic sight to behold." he says walking towards them. "Get out of my way."

"Sir, there's no reason to go on a rampage." The remaining fish guy says.

"Don't worry," Arlong reassures. "I've just thought of a little game we can play." My ears droop; a game, huh? Luffy tries to throw a punch, but Arlong dodges it and catches his wrist. Oh boy…

"Do you really think your sad little group can beat us? Four mere humans?" Arlong asks. Uh, I'm here too you know…

"So what if we do?" Luffy retorts. Arlong responds by kneeling down and digging his hand into the ground. My eyes widen as he starts to rise, cracking the concrete with him. No way! He lifted the piece of concrete holding Luffy clean out of the ground! Holy crap!

I let out a silent squeak as Arlong threw Luffy into the water. Sanji ran to go in after him but Zoro stopped him, and for good reason. If they went in the water, the fish guys would just follow and then they'd be toast! Maybe this was my chance! Arlong and the others probably didn't even remember I existed; I was Luffy's only hope!

I watched as Zoro and Sanji started to take on the fish guy and the octopus; I was gonna have to be sneaky here. I wait near the debris as I spot some more sticking out of the water. I run over and jump into the water behind the debris just as someone throws the first hit, disguising my splash. Taking a deep breath I dive under water, now completely hidden from view.

It was easy to find Luffy in the empty pool; the kid was still struggling to get loose while trying to hold his breath. He wasn't going to last much longer. I swim towards him and latch onto his legs to plant my feet on the concrete holding them. I pull as hard as I can but it's no use; I'm too small and the concrete is too thick! There had to be a quicker way to do this!

My eyes fall on my tail and I mentally slap myself; I should've done that in the first place! I let go of Luffy and swim a few feet away, charging up my tail. Once it hardens, I swim towards him as fast as I can and swing my tail right into the concrete, shattering it easily. I grin in triumph and Luffy lets out a cheer, only to remember that he's under water, and swallowing a huge gulp of water.

I start swimming towards the surface only to realize that I'm alone. I look back at Luffy. He isn't floating to the top or making an effort to swim...can he not swim?! I frown, swim back to him, and grab the back of his red vest, pulling as hard as I can. I even swing my tail to give myself more propulsion as I make my way to the debris I dived next to.

After many agonizing minutes I finally get us both above water; who knew someone as stretchy as him could be so heavy? I drag him to the edge of the pool and get out before dragging him after me. To my horror, he had passed out from lack of air so I was stuck pulling his dead weight.

I manage to drag him behind some debris for him to rest and look up just in time to see that fish guy punch Sanji. I cry out as he flies across the area and right through the wall. I resist the urge to go after him; I had to have faith that he was okay. I had to keep an eye on Luffy and Zoro.

I go over to Luffy and shake him, but he won't respond; had he really swallowed that much water?! _'C'mon, wake up already!'_ I don't have time for this! I have to help somehow!

"Is he alright?"

I flinch and look up. Nami's sister, the blue haired lady and the pinwheel guy had managed to sneak over to me. "Pi...pika." I say worriedly, gesturing to Luffy. They had to help him. I stare at Zoro who's holding his own, but looking really weak. His injuries are still pretty bad from the looks of his bandages. That's what you get for facing a guy from the Grand Line.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of him." Pinwheel guy says. I smile and nod my thanks. That was one weight off my back. I look back to the fight and sneak along the wall to peek through the hole. To my delight, Sanji is just fine, muttering about how Zeff's kicks were harder than that punch. I really need to have more faith in the guy.

I look back to the fight and a smile graces my face. Zoro has won, the octopus is down, but Zoro is still hurt. My eyes widen as the fish guy appears behind him to strike him down. I get ready to charge in there but Sanji beats me to the punch, or kick in his case.

Zoro then faces the water and my eyes widen in fear; they thought Luffy was still under water! Guess I was a bit _too_ sneaky. I got ready to give them some kind of signal that Luffy was okay, but Sanji had already jumped in before Zoro could. Before I could even blink, the fish guy jumped in after him.

That idiot! I take back what I said about having faith in him, I have to make sure he doesn't get killed again!

I quickly jump into the water after him, making sure Zoro sees me so he doesn't try anything stupid. I swim as fast as I can towards Sanji but I can already tell I'm not going to make it in time. I try not to cry out as the fish guy slams the back of Sanji's neck.

Sparks fly from my cheeks but I quickly stop them; I couldn't use any electric attacks now, not while Sanji was still in the water. I had to get him out or at least help him beat this guy. The fish guy wraps his ponytail around Sanji's waist and pulls him back to him to land another hit.

Almost all the air is knocked out of Sanji as Fish Guy's knee hits him right in the abdomen. Sanji flies back in the water and Fish Guy starts to spin, drawing Sanji back again. I swim towards them, charging up my tail and get right between them before smacking my iron tail right onto the fish guy's head as hard as I could. I manage to stop the guy's spinning and quickly pull my tail back to hit him again. I hit him right in the face and get him away from Sanji.

I look at my friend; he's conscious, but too dazed to swim. I have to get him out now! I grab the back of his shirt and begin to swim to the surface.

"Oh no you don't!" Sanji is suddenly yanked from my grasp; the hair is still wrapped around him! Fish Guy gives him one more hard hit making him slam into the wall and I see my chance.

I swim until I reach the hair, and baring my fangs, I chomp into it, ripping it apart and breaking the tie between Fish Guy and Sanji. Fish Guy looks furious but I'm ready. I charge up my tail again and give him one more hard hit to the face, knocking him back a good distance.

I grab onto Sanji again and begin swimming, noticing that he's beginning to get his bearings back. He's a lot heavier than Luffy; even with my tail it takes me a good amount of effort to get to the surface. I thrust us above water, both of us taking huge gulps of air.

"Pika-chan?" Sanji asks in shock, finally realizing my identity.

"Pika." I grunt as I help him to the shore. Zoro looks a bit surprised before he helps Sanji onto land. "You beat that guy?" he asks me in disbelief.

I shake my head, still in the water. "Pika pika-" I cut myself off as something grabs my tail.

"Pika-chan!" Sanji yells as I'm dragged back under water.

I turn around to see Fish Guy, grinning and dragging me all the way under. "I've got you now, you little pest!" he says. His face is smug with victory, but he's just signed his own death sentence. I smirk at him as sparks start to fly from my cheeks. Fish Guy seems to get the message and his face becomes drawn with fear. "No...that can't be…"

Oh, but it is. Like Sanji said, this is what you get for grabbing my tail. I finally let loose and electricity fills the entire pool. The water practically explodes, showering everyone on land. I get knocked around a bit, but it calms down pretty quickly. I look around and spot Fish Guy floating a ways away from me, golden brown and extra crispy; Sanji would be proud.

I swim back up to the edge of the pool and haul myself out, letting out a few coughs before shaking out my fur. I head back over to Sanji and Zoro and Sanji pats my head. "Nice move." he compliments. I smile and lean into his touch; I was just glad he didn't drown.

Sanji stands back up abruptly and gazes at the pool, "Wait! Luffy, he's-"

"Pikachu!" I quickly cut him off. I subtly point to where Blue Hair and Pinwheel are still trying to revive him. Luckily Arlong seems to be too busy wallowing in anger to notice.

Sanji looks between them and me before finally focusing on me. "Did you…?" he trails off.

"Pika!" I say with a proud smile.

Zoro smiles in relief, along with Sanji, "You sneaky little bastard..." Sanji breathes. He gives me a scratch behind the ears, riddled with praise. I rub the back of my head sheepishly, but I don't notice the bubbles coming from behind me.

"YOU DAMN RODENT!"

I can't even register Fish Guy, springing out of the water towards me. I suddenly feel a sharp breeze and a crash. I blink and look up; Sanji had redirected Fish guy right into the ground with one swift kick. I sigh in relief; who knew the guy could withstand that much electricity. "Pikachu!" I say gratefully and Sanji gives me a smirk. It seems that we can watch each other's back without any worry in a fight.

"You're fight's with me, asshole!" Sanji says, turning to Fish Guy. "Get your ass up and fight me on dry land!" I watch in amazement as Sanji pulverizes the Fish Guy, ending the fight by driving him through a building. That's what you get for messing with us!

"In the end, they're all just seafood." Sanji says, putting his shoes back on. "This game is ours."

"You bastards…" I watch warily as Arlong gets to his feet, "You've killed my brothers one after the other...I've let you get too carried away!"

Yikes, he doesn't sound happy. Zoro slowly gets to his feet and I spread my paws, sparks flying from my cheeks. I was ready to shock this jerk like there was no tomorrow! Arlong walks towards us, putting us all on our guard. I tilt my head in confusion as he dips his hand into the pool, cupping a little water; what was he up to?

He grins toothily and throws the water at both Zoro and Sanji; uh...what good will that- holy crap!

Sanji and Zoro suddenly fly back a few feet, as if they've been punched. Both of them cough up blood and Zoro's bandages start to redden; his wound was open again! What the hell did he just do?! Zoro falls over unmoving and Sanji falls to his knees, gasping for breath that isn't there. I look up at Arlong as he grins, water still in his hand; did he do all that...with the water?

"I don't even have to touch you!" Arlong says gleefully. "You humans are so fragile, all I need is a little water!"

I grit my teeth, and leap towards him. "Pika…!" _'You son of a-'_ My tail becomes iron and I give it a swing towards his face, but I'm stopped in mid air. My eyes widen; he blocked it with his nose?!

He grabs my tail, leaving me suspended in mid air. Thinking quick I give him an electric attack, covering his entire body in electricity. I open my eyes once I finish and my heart stops; he didn't even flinch! Even if he wasn't in the water that should've done something! How strong is this guy?!

"You aren't even worth my time." Arlong growls. He grips my tail and throws me straight down. I squeak as I bounce on the ground before he throws a few drops of water down at me.

I feel like an invisible giant has just kicked me in the gut. I know water was usually my ally but I had no idea it could pack a punch like that! I can barely cry out as I'm thrown back, slamming right into Sanji, throwing us both to the ground.

Sanji slowly sits up, using one arm to support him, and the other to hold me. "Bastard…" he growls as I cough, trying to get my air back. What now? How can we beat this guy when he can floor us with freaking water?! Even my lightning is useless; what can we possibly do against someone this strong?!

"Arlong!"

My ears prick up; I know that voice. Sanji and I turn to see Nami, holding a staff and still wearing Luffy's hat.

"Nami," Arlong greets as if talking to an old friend. "What are you doing here?"

Nami's eyes are hard and focused; she's done crying. "I'm here, to kill you." she says lowly.

* * *

 **I'll admit, Sanji's underwater fight is one of the many cringe-worthy moments in this show for me. I love swimming and the water, but my worst fear is drowning so that fight is just so...so...ugh *shudder***


	12. You'll Always Be My Friend

**OVER 50 REVIEWS AND OVER 60 FAV/FOLLOWS?! *rolls on floor squealing* YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!**

* * *

I've never seen Nami look so intense. That look in her eyes was completely different from when I last saw her; she wasn't backing down this time. Arlong laughs, "Haven't you learned your lesson by now? You've tried to kill me the past eight years and never succeeded; humans can't kill me."

Arceus I wish this guy would quit going on about the difference in species, it makes me want to kill him even more. "I won't kill you Nami," Arlong continues, "But you must stay here as our surveyor...forever." I look at Nami and see her eyes widen, growing desperate and fearful. "If you refuse, I'll kill every pathetic life on this island." I turn back to Arlong abruptly. "But if you come I'll let the villagers live...but..." I flop to the ground as he picks Sanji up by the back of his shirt, "I'm afraid I can't let these pests live." Sanji barely moves; he's just about passed out from lack of air.

I growl and leap towards him. "Pika!" _'Don't touch him you bastard!'_

My tail becomes iron again and this time I manage to hit Arlong's arm. He drops Sanji, but still doesn't flinch. I squeal as he grabs me in his massive hand. "It's your choice Nami." Sparks fly from my cheeks as I squirm in Arlong's grasp. He tightens his grip around me, stopping me from shocking him again.

I look at Nami and I can see the conflict burning in her eyes. That choice was beyond unfair! How could he possibly make her choose between her village and her friends? My eyes widen when Nami turns and faces the villagers. "Alright everyone! We'll fight to the death!" she proclaims.

I smile as the villagers cheer loudly. My ears suddenly twitch and I turn just as a giant spout of water shoots into the air. My smile widens as I pick up Luffy gasping for breath and talking to Pinwheel and Nami's sister; guess whose back?

I look at Arlong and notice that he's distracted, his grip around me a bit loose. I quickly give him one more shock, making him drop me. It did next to nothing again, but I was free so who cares? I take a few deep breaths to get my air back and approach Sanji as he opens his bloodshot eyes. "About time, eh Pika-chan?" he asks, glancing over to where Luffy is.

I nod happily. Now this fight is as good as ours. "Took him long enough...idiot." Zoro grumbles as he slowly gets up. I look back to Nami and the crowd and brighten as someone appears in the hole in the wall. Usopp's okay too! He even beat the guy who was chasing him! Things were finally starting to look up again!

My ears twitch again and I look behind Arlong. Oh geez, octopus is waking up. Not on my watch. I send a small but strong lightning bolt towards him and that seems to put him down. We don't need anymore interference, thank you.

Just then, two rubber hands grab the debris, launching Luffy into the air towards Arlong. "I'M BACK!" he yells with a loud laugh. He stretches his head back, "Gum Gum...Bell!" His head snaps forward, nailing Arlong's with a dong following up with nailing him with his leg making him slide a few feet.

Sanji and I make our way away from the fight as Luffy rains rubber fists on Arlong. I was about to go to Zoro to see if he needed help, but he was already walking as if nothing happened. Sanji sits, leaning against the wall near the arch where I had hid Luffy before and I sit on his lap. He tries to light a match, but they're still damp from that water battle earlier.

"Well, this is it, Pika-chan." I look up at Sanji as he flicks his match into the air. "If he loses, then we all die."

I frown at him. "Pika…" _'You sound so cool with it…'_

But honestly, I'm not that worried. If Luffy could take down Kreig, then he could take down Arlong, especially with Nami's freedom on the line. Luffy starts stretching, getting ready for the real deal and Arlong stands up. "Tell me, do you know what the difference between you and me is?" he asks Luffy. Ooh, that's a tough one, does he get to phone a friend?

"The nose?" Luffy asks. "The jaw? Oh, the webbing!"

"Species!" Arlong roars. I roll my eyes; what is with this guy and species? It was really getting on my nerves. I flinch as Arlong starts snapping at Luffy like an angry dog. Luffy dodges them and Arlong eventually bites a pillar, but the stone simply breaks under the strength of his teeth. Luffy scrambles away and Arlong turns to him. "I'll show you the real difference between you and I." he says.

Luffy grins, "Go ahead; I'm not losing to you." he says. "Cause I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" I tilt my head in confusion. King?

Arlong laughs and picks up a small piece of debris. "Please, a puny human like you could never conquer the Grand Line; you can't even crush stone with your jaws."

"He's right." Sanji says.

"Pi?"

"With teeth like that it wouldn't just leave bite marks...it'll snap right through your flesh and your bones like a butcher."

I shudder, imagining Luffy getting a huge piece of himself bitten out of him, and smack Sanji lightly with my tail. "Pika!"

He smirks at me, "What, too graphic for you?"

I smack him again. _'Yes! Knock it off!'_

We watch as Luffy dodges another bite and picks up some fallen swords. "Huh? Luffy's a swordsman?" Sanji asks.

My ears droop as Luffy begins flailing the swords at Arlong. "Pika pi…" _'I don't think so...'_

I glance at Zoro who's cringing at his horrible technique; maybe some lessons were in order. Arlong eventually flicks one sword away with his nose and bites through the second, but Luffy quickly punches him in the jaw making his fangs shatter. Nice one!

Luffy stands up straight, "You're right, I don't have a clue how to use a sword." he says. "I'm a terrible sailor...I can't cook...I can't lie...and I can't even shoot lightning."

I sweatdrop; what do you mean 'can't even'? It's not some parlor trick you can pick up you know…

"Without my friends I would've been dead a long time ago!" Luffy yells and I perk up. He considered me his friend too? I feel the trust grow inside me again, feeling stronger. First Sanji, then Nami, and now Luffy? Actually, now that I think about it, I felt it around Zoro too, when we were running through the forest. I even felt it when Usopp picked me up and helped heal me.

What is it about these guys that makes me feel so warm inside? Why them and no one else? Do my memories have something to do with it? I close my eyes as brief flashes of figures both big and small speed through my mind; Arceus, I wish I could remember!

"Wha…!" I open my eyes at Luffy's yell. "He's got new teeth!" I look at Arlong and my eyes widen; his old broken teeth had fallen out and new ones now took their place.

"Whenever the old ones fall out, they grow back even stronger!" Arlong explains. "You humans could never attain this kind of strength!" Oh my Arceus, would you shut up about the species thing already? I'm a yellow mouse who hangs around humans all the time and you don't hear me complaining!

Then as if to prove his point, Arlong pulls out his new teeth and then pulls out the new ones that grow back! "Chuuuu…" I whine, squirming in my spot. That's painful just to look at!

"Geez, if you're this squeamish you won't last a day on the Grand Line." Sanji comments.

"Pikachu!" _'I didn't ask for your opinion!'_

Arlong puts his teeth in both his hands, making two extra mouths of sharp teeth and goes at Luffy. Luffy tried to dodge but he's too fast and quickly corners him. I cover my eyes as Arlong begins chomping his extra teeth all over Luffy.

"Arlong please…" My ears perk up at the weak voice and I dare to look. "It hurts…" I let out a sigh of relief; Luffy used a fish guy as a shield. Thank Arceus, I thought he was done for!

"Stand still rubber man!" Arlong yells.

Luffy eyes the teeth and puts a hand on his chin. "That's an interesting idea…" he says to himself.

"Did he come up with a plan?" Sanji wonders.

"Pika…" I answer with a shrug; we'll have to wait and see. Luffy dodges the teeth again and gives Arlong a swift kick to the jaw. Uh, Luffy, I thought we established that taking out his teeth is a bad idea…

Arlong gets up, his new teeth already grown in and Luffy turns to him. "Look! Now I have sharp teeth!" Luffy exclaims, the newly fallen teeth in his own mouth.

...I...I've got nothing...what can I even say to that…?

Now Arlong's really mad. Luffy goes into another round of dodging the teeth but eventually, one of his hand jaws gets Luffy right on the side. Luckily, Luffy's able to bite him right back. "Now we're even!" Luffy says with a smirk. Arlong rips the teeth out of his neck where Luffy bit him and lunges at him with his jaws this time, but Luffy takes the hit with his arm.

I cringe as he screams in pain but he grabs Arlong's head. He raises his leg and slams Arlong's head into the ground. They both lie there for a few minutes until Arlong gets up and jumps into the pool. Luffy gets up a few moments later and rips the jaws out of his side. He looks around, "Hey, where'd he go?" he wonders.

"Luffy, the sea!" Nami yells. We watch as Arlong swims around, his dorsal fin sticking out for a few minutes before going under fully.

"Crap, this isn't good…" Sanji mutters. "His abilities double in strength underwater." Yeah, you know that better than anybody, right Sanji?

I frown at the water, feeling his movements with my instincts. He's diving deeper and slowing down; what is he doing? My ears twitch and my eyes widen as I pick up his position. _'Shit! He's gonna-'_

"Hey! Pika-chan, come back!" I bolt towards Luffy at top speed and slam right into his side. We both fall to the ground as Arlong shoots out of the water like a harpoon and flies right into the building, barely missing us. I breathe heavily as I'm clutching Luffy's vest like a lifeline. That was too close!

Luffy sits up and looks at the hole Arlong made. "Man! That was a close one! I would've died!" Yeah no shit, genius!

"I'm impressed that you could dodge that." We both look up to see Arlong glaring down at us. "But the longer you evade your death, the more painful it will be!" Both our eyes widen as Arlong dives right towards us.

Luffy grabs me and flips out of the way just in time. We both watch in fear as he slams into the ground without even flinching. Just how strong was that freaking nose of his? My ears suddenly twitch again. "Pika pi!" I exclaim pointing towards the smoke.

"Shark Dive!"

Luffy flips out of the way still holding me; he actually understood my signal! Just as we're about to land, my ears twitch again. "Pika!" I point behind us. He's moving again!

Luffy lands and barely manages to jump, Arlong's nose grazing his vest. Luffy and I land on the concrete and Arlong dives into the water again. Great, another water attack.

"Luffy hide!" Usopp yells. "He went into the water again!"

Luffy grits his teeth, "I'm not hiding." he says.

"Don't be stupid!" Sanji yells. "Get out of there before you both become targets!" He looks like he's trying to get up but I shoot him a glare. _'Don't even think about it.'_ Sanji was still hurt, he would just get himself killed.

"I said I'm not going anywhere!" Luffy yells. He then looks at me, "Hey, you can tell when he's coming, right?" he asks, completely serious. I nod, a questioning look on my face. Luffy smirks, "Then let's catch that fish!"

I grin, catching onto his plan. "Pika!" I jump onto him, attaching myself to the back of his head. My chin rests on the top of his head and my ears stick straight up, my instincts on high alert. Luffy grabs the fingers on his right hand and we wait. After a few seconds, my ears twitch; he's coming, and he's coming in fast! "Pika!" I cry, gripping his hair.

"Alright! Gum Gum…" Luffy yells, stretching his fingers. "...Shield!" Arlong shoots out of the water and his face slams right into Luffy's fingers. Luffy grins as the nose stops mere inches from his face, his fingers having absorbed the impact of the attack. Maybe this kid was smarter than I gave him credit for.

Luffy bounces into the air from the rebound and lands on the upper wall of the tower face first, me clinging to the back of his vest. "Ha! That attack won't work now!" Luffy laughs. I smile but my ears twitch again.

"Shark…"

"Huh?" Luffy's smile fades.

Man, this guy didn't know when to quit! "Pika pi!" I yell, pointing below us.

"...Dive!"

"Crap!" Luffy kicks off the wall just in time as Arlong bursts through the roof below us. "Bastard! That was a cheap shot!" Luffy yells. Arlong dives towards us again and Luffy weaves his fingers behind his head. "Hey, gimme some lightning!" he yells.

My eyes widen as I realize he's talking to me; now?! But he'll shock himsel- oh yeah, made of rubber, almost forgot. I release my electricity, surrounding Luffy's entire body with lightning. "Gum Gum...Electric Net!" he yells, stretching his fingers towards Arlong. Luffy flips behind Arlong in the air, catching him in his net of fingers and electrocuting him in the process.

"Keep it coming Pika-chan!" Luffy yells as his fingers retract. I obey and tighten my grip on his vest as Luffy starts to flip rapidly. "Now Gum Gum...Lightning Spear!" His feet slam Arlong right into the ground, giving him plenty of lightning along with it. Everyone cheers as we fall down towards Arlong. He's smoking from my lightning and looks pretty worn out.

Luffy and I watch him with anticipation and his eyes open. They're bloodshot and angry; now he's really mad! "You wretched human!" Arlong roars, grabbing Luffy by the hair. We both yell as Arlong begins spinning up around and around until he throws us right towards the tower. I close my eyes for impact when I feel something rubbery wrap around me, cushioning the blow as we crash into the tower.

"Luffy!"

"Pika-chan!"

I feel Luffy sit up and I feel myself get unwrapped. I'm still on the back of Luffy's vest and I spy his arms retracting. Now I see; he wrapped his arms around himself and me in turn, making a rubber shield so I wouldn't get hurt.

"Boy, he's really mad now." Luffy says as I peek over his shoulder. Arlong lunges at us and Luffy flips out of the way just in time. Arlong seems to grab something behind the wall and pulls a giant saw-like sword out. Oh Arceus, this isn't good!

Luffy suddenly grabs me by the scruff, plucking me off his back. "Thanks; I'll take it from here." he says to me with a grin.

What…?

"Hey Sanji! Catch!"

Oh no… nononononono-

I squeal as he throws me into the air. ' _Dammit, why does he always have to throw me!'_ I tumble through the air, closing my eyes until I feel familiar arms catch me safely.

"Dammit Luffy, throw Pika-chan like that again and I'll kick your ass!" Sanji yells. I sigh in relief; at least he didn't throw me out to sea this time...

I look back towards the fight to see that they've disappeared inside the top of the tower. I tilt my head as it suddenly goes quiet; that's odd. I feel myself growing anxious as the silence continues for a few more moments; what is going on up there?

We all flinch when something flies out of the wall. "A desk…?" Sanji asks.

My ears perk up and I glance at Nami. She's staring at the desk with wide eyes. I remember what she told me, about how Arlong would force her to continuously draw maps and sea charts without rest. That must've been the desk where she worked...and Luffy had just thrown it out.

Another crash is heard and hundreds of maps and sea charts fly out, ripped and sliced. I slowly smile as they fall into the pool, ruined beyond repair; Luffy was destroying all the reminders of being Arlong's prisoner. Nami brings her hand to her mouth as tears start falling again and I smile sadly at her. At this point, I knew, everything was gonna be alright.

We all watch with wide eyes as Luffy's foot stretches through the top of the tower before slamming down with a loud crash. We all gape as the tower cracks and completely collapses, creating a huge gust of wind. Sanji holds me close and covers me as best he can, curling against the wall as dust and debris fly everywhere, leaving a giant pillar of smoke behind. We both open our eyes seeing the destruction.

"Luffy…" Sanji says softly.

"Pika…" I agree; I hope he's okay.

I sigh in relief as the smoke clears revealing Luffy standing over the fallen Arlong. He takes a deep breath, "NAMI!" he yells. "YOU'LL ALWAYS BE MY FRIEND!"

More tears start to fall as Nami slowly nods with a smile, "Yeah…" Finally, tears of joy; she deserves them.

I climb onto Sanji's shoulder and raise my paw happily. "Pika pika!" I cheer and Sanji gives me a scratch behind the ears. The crowd erupts into happy cheers as the clouds in the sky clear up.

It was finally over.

* * *

I smile from my perch on Sanji's shoulder as the villagers throw Luffy into the air over and over, chanting and cheering his name. "You really had us going for a while Luffy." Sanji says with a smile, walking towards the crowd. "Start dealing with the bad guy sooner next time, idiot." He then looks at me, "And make sure to warn me the next time you charge into a fight like that, I almost had a heart attack."

I feel a bit guilty for making him worry again, but he's still smiling; I can tell he's proud of me. I nuzzle his cheek and he places his hand on the side of my head. We watch as Nami makes her way through the crowd as they accidently drop Luffy. Nami places the straw hat back on his head and they give each other a high five. She's finally smiling.

"Hold it right there!"

Everyone stops and we turn to see a group of Marines standing before us. Wait, weren't these the guys who were working with Arlong? And why is the leader dressed like some deranged mouse? I've looked at this guy for only five seconds and he's already pissing me off!

He comes in all high and mighty and announces that he's taking all the money and treasure that Arlong stole over the years from the village. Yeah, like we'd ever let that happen! The mouse Marine lets out a yell as Zoro appears behind him, grabbing the back of his shirt.

"Trying to rain on these people's parade?" Zoro asks dangerously. "Now that's just rude." He then looks at me. "Hey, rodent!"

I look at him in confusion. "Pi?"

To my surprise, he gives me a smirk. "How about some target practice?"

My face slowly melts into a grin as I nod and leap into the air from Sanji's shoulder. "Everyone stand clear!" Sanji announces.

I charge up the biggest rage fueled lightningbolt I can muster and let hell rain upon the Marines. They all fall over, burnt to a crisp and I land with a triumphant grin. "Pika pikachu!" _'That's for stealing from Nami you jerks!'_

Surprisingly, Mouse Marine is still conscious, muttering to himself and to us. "He's still talking?" Sanji asks, annoyed. Huh, guess I didn't shock him hard enough.

Nami walks up to him, her staff in hand. "This is for shooting Nojiko and ravaging Bellemere's tangerine orchard." Nami gives a hard hit with her staff, so hard that he skids across the pool. Alright, go Nami!

"Thanks Nami; that felt good!" Nojiko comments.

"A thousand more and we'll call it even!" Pinwheel guy yells.

Mouse Marine gets out of the water and Nami grabs his whiskers, telling him to help rebuild the town and give back all the money. Of course, Mouse Marine agrees; how can you say no to Nami? He starts swimming away and yells out to us. "I'll get you, you pirates! Mark my words Luffy, major things are gonna happen cause you've made me angry!"

I jump back on Sanji's shoulder as we all frown at him. "Major things are gonna happen?" Sanji asks.

"Pika pi?" _'Can I shock him again?'_

"How does he know I'm gonna be King of the Pirates?" Luffy asks.

"That's not what he meant!" Zoro retorts.

"Wait, does this mean we're in big trouble now or what?" Usopp demands.

Ah, who cares? Arlong's dead, the island's free, we shouldn't be worrying! The villagers all run off to tell the rest of the island that Arlong Park has fallen and I jump down from Sanji's shoulder. Luffy pokes Zoro's chest wound making him cringe and everyone laughs, including me.

These guys were a strange bunch...but they were definitely the greatest humans I'd ever met.

* * *

 **Woo-hoo! Battle complete! Now we just have to wrap this baby up and get moving to the next arc!**

 **Thank you guys so much for your reviews and I hope to see more of your loving words in the future!**


	13. Become a Pirate?

**FOR THE LAST TIME, PIKA-CHAN'S GENDER IS _UP TO YOU_! _YOU_ DECIDE IF PIKA-CHAN'S A BOY OR A GIRL! _THERE IS NO RIGHT ANSWER!_**

 **Caps lock aside, the fact that everyone's asking means my writing style is working; I've been trying to make Pika-chan as gender neutral as possible X3**

* * *

As to be expected, the island threw a huge party. I heard they were going to celebrate for three whole days; man they were gonna be wiped out! But after eight years of being under pirate rule, I say it's worth it.

I was a huge hit with the kids, all of them aching to pet me and just touch me; luckily Sanji was around to make sure they didn't crush me or provoke me to shock them. The kids were actually really sweet, so I was able to ignore whenever they gushed over me and called me cute and adorable; all the pats, scratches and hugs I got out of it made it all worth it. I got a lot of compliments from the villagers who watched the fight, especially on my lightning attacks.

"Your lightning is incredible!"

"It was like a storm was joining the fight!"

"You're so small and you have that much power? Amazing!"

It was really hard not to blush at their praise. The food was amazing and the dancing was a ton of fun, and the best part? Sanji was so distracted from dancing with all the girls that he didn't need to use me to flirt! Thank Arceus! All the celebrations ended the same way: everyone passed out on the ground, sleeping soundly. It had probably been so long since they could celebrate and let loose like this.

However, on the final night of the festivities, I decided to skip out on the late night festivities and take a walk. I had overheard Luffy say that they would be shipping out the next day. When he said those words my heart sank into the pit of my stomach, so I decided a walk would clear my head.

Why do I feel so down? Well, because I have no plan. Arlong was defeated and Nami was safe; I was so focused on those two things that I didn't really think about what I would do afterwards. What was I going to do now? Sanji was a pirate now, he was going to find the All Blue.

But me? I have nothing; nowhere to go and no home to go to. Sanji said he set sail to make sure I was safe, but now that he knew that, all that was left for him was to go and chase his dream. So what was left for me? Well, there's the Baratie, but there's no way Luffy would go off course just to return me there. Maybe I could stay here for a while and catch a ride back in the future. The people here were really nice so I wouldn't mind staying here.

I sit under a tree, gazing up at the moonlight and frowning slightly. I was really gonna miss Sanji; I was gonna miss all of those guys. I drift off to sleep under the tree, questions and thoughts swirling in my head.

When I woke up, the sun was already pretty high in the sky. I stretch and get up; guess I better head to the docks and see Sanji and the others off. I want to at least give a proper goodbye, and maybe thank Sanji for everything he's done for me. I run back to the town and slow to a walk as I make my way down behind and between houses.

The main path was bustling with activity so I didn't want to get stepped on. After a while, I'm a few houses away from the ship; I peek out and see Sanji on the deck helping to get some last minute supplies onto the ship and I can see Nami up there too. I'm glad she's going with them. I pull back and sigh; this was going to be really hard.

"Pika-chan!" My ears twitch. That's Sanji. "Pika-chan! Where are you?" Ah, he must be looking for me. "We have to set sail, c'mon Pika-chan!"

My ears droop. I really should have spent that last night with him; now it's too late. I guess this was goodbye. I'd probably find my way back to the Baratie sooner or later. I begin to make my way out of my hiding place when I hear Zoro, "C'mon cook, we've been waiting for that rodent for hours!" he says irritably leaning over the rail of the ship.

"Deal with it; I'm not leaving without Pika-chan!" Sanji responds making me freeze in my tracks. Not leave without me?

"That little guy sure is powerful," I hear Usopp say. "Are you two really that close?" I tense at the question, and Sanji is silent.

"Pika-chan's your friend right?" Luffy asks. "Friends don't just leave; Pika-chan will come."

I hear Sanji chuckle and watch as he takes a drag. "Pika-chan's more than just my friend." My eyes widen. "Pika-chan's my partner, who I can always trust to have my back." I can barely move as his words sink in. "The little guy has so much energy...Pika-chan doesn't belong in an old restaurant."

 _'Sanji...'_

"Sailing the Grand Line and finding the All Blue without Pika-chan by my side...it just wouldn't be right!" I take a step out of my hiding place, trying to keep my eyes dry.

Luffy grins, "Of course; I mean, you said you wouldn't be my cook if Pika-chan wasn't with you!" I feel my heart skip a beat. He said that? "And it would be totally awesome to have a mouse that shoots lightning on my crew!"

Nami smiles thoughtfully, "That little guy was such a sweetheart; I wouldn't mind Pika-chan tagging along either."

Usopp nods, "Yeah, that little guy is cute, and brave too, just like the amazing Captain Usopp!"

Zoro shrugs, "I really don't care if it comes or not, if Luffy says the mouse is coming then it's coming." he says. "If it does come at least it can hold its own in a fight; the rodent's got guts, I'll admit."

Oh that's it, I can't hide here anymore! "Pikachu!" I leap out of my hiding spot and make a beeline for the ship, tears in the corner of my eyes.

Sanji turns at my cry and the people all make a path for me to get through. A wide smile crosses Sanji's face as he lays eyes on me. "Pika-chan! You made it!" I leap into his arms almost knocking him over. "Whoa, easy there!" he exclaims as I nuzzle my face into his jacket. "Ready to find the All Blue?" he asks.

I look up at him with bright hopeful eyes. "Pika pika!" _'You bet I am!'_

"Alright!" Luffy cheers. "We got a lightning mouse on our crew! That's so awesooooome!" I smile up at him and I climb onto Sanji's shoulder as we board the ship, the Going Merry I believe Usopp called it.

The villagers give us a bittersweet goodbye (turns out Nami pickpocketed just about all of them while she was getting on the ship) and we're on our way.

* * *

I stand on the railing, my eyes closed, letting the wind blow through my fur. I'm a pirate now...I'm surprisingly fine with this. That fight with Arlong was the most intense thing I've ever been through; I'm probably really sadistic for thinking this, but I hope we get into more fights along the way.

Luffy stretches on top of the goat's head on the Merry and beings counting on his fingers, "Alright, we have the world's greatest swordsman, a navigator making a world map, a liar who's also the best sniper who wants to be a warrior, a cook who wants to find the All Blue, and a mouse who...who…" he trails off. His gaze turns to me and frown in confusion. "Hey Sanji!" Luffy calls. "What does Pika-chan want to do?"

Sanji peeks out from the galley, "What are you talking about?" he asks.

"Well, you want to find the All Blue, but what about Pika-chan?" Luffy responds before looking at me. "Do you have a dream Pika-chan?" he asks.

I look at the ground in thought when those figures from before flash through my mind again. _'Dream...'_ The word resonated through my mind, though it didn't make the figures any clearer. Did having a dream have something to do with my memory? Well that's the vaguest clue ever.

Everyone has some kind of dream, right? So what's mine? I think hard; what's something I could possibly get out of traveling in unknown and dangerous waters to places that no one has ever seen before? Honestly I don't really need to find anything-

...Oh wow, I'm an idiot…

I look at Luffy with a smile and nod. "Pika!"

"Really?" Luffy asks jumping off his seat and coming towards me.

Sanji apparently heard too as he exits the galley and walks towards me as well. "You have a dream Pika-chan?" Sanji asks. I'll ignore the fact that I just answered that question and nod again. Nami, Usopp and Zoro seem interested too.

"What could a rodent possibly want?" Zoro scoffs.

"Shut up and you'll find out!" Nami snaps.

"Alright, let's hear it." Luffy says excitedly, bending towards me. "What's your dream?"

I smile and point back to Nami's island. "Pika!"

Luffy tilts his head, "You wanna go back to the island?"

I shake my head and point more aggressively. "Pika pi!"

"We can't go back, we already set sail." Luffy says. I groan and roll me eyes; this was gonna take a while. I point to Nami and then back to the island. Now everyone looks confused.

"You want Nami to go back?" Usopp asks.

"No way! She's our navigator!" Luffy protests.

I shake my head vigorously. "Pika!" _'No no no!'_ I look at Nami directly and point to the island. "Pika?" I ask.

"Uh…" Nami frowns nervously at being put on the spot. "Are you asking...what that is?" she asks uneasily.

I smile slightly and point to the island one more time before pointing to her. "Pika."

Nami tilts her head, "What is that island, to me?" she tries. I nod and she folds her arms. "Well, it's my home-"

"Pi pikachu!" I exclaim, nodding happily.

"That's the word you were looking for?" Sanji asks. "Home?"

"Pika!" I say pointing to myself. They were finally getting it!

"What about home?" Usopp asks. I deflate; nevermind. Looks I have to go all out. I put my paw on my forehead almost like a salute and start looking around.

"Uh, surveying?" Nami asks.

"Saluting." Zoro chimes in.

"You're hungry." Luffy says.

"How does that mean hungry?" Usopp demands.

"Looking." Sanji says, making me perk up. "You're looking for something." I nod and point back to the island and then to myself.

Nami's eyes light up, "You're looking for your island! For your home!" I jump up and down happily; we have a winner! Sheesh, took long enough…

"But isn't your home the restaurant place?" Luffy asks.

I shake my head and Sanji steps towards me. "Wait...Pika-chan, do you really not know where your home is?" I shake my head again.

That seems to get Luffy's attention. "But everyone knows where their home is." he says.

I shake my head once more, "Pika…" I point to my own head and look at the ground sadly.

"It doesn't remember." Zoro says somehow getting my gesture immediately. "Or it just doesn't know."

Luffy's eyes widen in excitement, "Ooh, so you're a mystery mouse!" I sweatdrop; is that really the only word you can come up with to describe me?

Sanji ignores him and looks at me seriously. "Is this true Pika-chan?" he asks. "Do you really not know where you came from?" I nod sadly. My memory is still completely blank; those figures appear again for a split second, but that's all they are: figures. No voices or colors and the only difference they all have is their size.

"Alright!" Luffy exclaims holding up the fingers he counted off. "And we have a mystery mouse that can shoot lightning and is looking for its home! My crew is already awesome!" he cheers, finishing his thoughts from earlier.

I give him a look, _'Uh, are you gonna be calling me that for this whole trip…?'_

I still give him a small smile and Nami picks me up. "Don't worry Pika-chan, you'll find your home." she reassures before grinning. "My world map won't be complete anyway unless we find it."

I smile back. "Pikachu!"

"Oh Nami! You're so kind!" Sanji gushes. Nami smiles uneasily and I give her a look that says, _'If you ever need me to knock some sense into him, just say the word.'_

After that, Sanji heads to the galley to make lunch (whatever keeps Luffy from screaming for meat) and I follow. I leap onto the counter and gaze at all the ingredients Sanji has out. "Wanna help?" he asks.

"Pika!" I respond happily. I wasn't a stranger to helping Sanji out in the kitchen. I did simple tasks, like washing vegetables, handing over spices, washing dishes, and occasionally stirring if the pot was small enough for me to reach. I hear Luffy and Usopp putting out a picnic table; since the weather was so nice we decided to eat outside.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you." Sanji says while we wash the vegetables. "Zeff wanted me to tell you to make sure to watch my back." My head snaps up to him in surprise. Zeff said that? Really? Well, I had left without saying goodbye…

"But since you made sushi out of those Fishmen I'd say you've got that covered." Sanji continues before grinning. "Patty and Carne actually admitted they would miss us; don't tell 'em I said that though."

I giggle; so even Patty and Carne missed me, huh? I guess they all did care for me in their own special way. I wonder if we'll ever get the chance to visit them.

After a while, Sanji and have cooked up plates and plates of food for everyone. Sanji manages to balance all the plates on his arms and head, but when he opens the door he loses his balance. I jump on his shoulder and barely catch the plate on his head before it slips off. Another skill I picked up while at the Baratie. We grin at each other as we make our way to the table and set the plates down.

"Alright! Food!" Luffy cheers. We all start digging in, the food nothing short of perfection.

"This is amazing!" Usopp says through a mouthful.

"I could definitely get used to this!" Nami agrees.

"Only the best for you my lovely lady!" Sanji swoons. I roll my eyes but keep my electricity down; it's a good day so I'll let him have this one. In no time, almost all the food is gone, Luffy having inhaled most of it; wasting food was never gonna be a problem on this ship, for sure!

After a while everything suddenly tenses up. Nami, Zoro and I look over to see that Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp have all grabbed the last piece of meat. Oh boy, I can already tell that this is gonna be rough. Nami and Zoro smartly move away from the table as they go at it.

"Gimme! I grabbed it first!"

"Bastard, I made it so I should get it!"

"The Great Captain Usopp is the only one worthy of eating this meat!"

I suddenly smile evilly as an idea comes to my mind. I wait until the meat ends up in the air and I take action. I jump from Luffy's hat into the air and snatch up the food. I land and gobble the meat up quickly; it's a bit on the cold side, but still tastes awesome. The boys pout and I hold back a snicker while Zoro and Nami start to laugh.

After Sanji and I clean up the dishes and wash them, we hear Nami. "Island, straight ahead!"

Sanji and I exit the kitchen and see Luffy wiggling happily on the Merry's head. "Island, island, island!" he chants, his excitement growing with every word. I jump onto Sanji's shoulder as we all gather around to see the island up ahead. I can't help but feel excitement as we set our course. Who knew what kind of things we would find on that island.

Again, at that moment, my amnesia doesn't bug me whatsoever, because I'm not lost anymore.

As of right now, I'm Pika-chan.

I'm the mouse who's going to find its home.

I'm Sanji's partner.

I'm a Straw Hat pirate!

* * *

 **(This ending meal scene was brought to you by the second ending of One Piece)**

 **Pika-chan, you're an idiot if you thought you could fight Arlong and NOT be considered a pirate X3**

 **And those charades Pika-chan has to put on? Look forward to A LOT of those XD**


	14. Promise of Strength

**Sooooo many people curious about Chopper! XD Patience my young grasshoppers, answers shall be revealed soon... (I have BIG PLANS for Drum, just you wait X3 )**

* * *

The one thing I didn't expect on a pirate ship was comfy beds, or hammocks in Sanji's case. Nami has her own separate room with a real bed which I can understand, but the hammocks really aren't that bad. They're bouncy and sturdy, and since they're hammocks, it helps me keep warm by leaning against Sanji since his weight forces me to lie on him. Luckily he's so used to sleeping with me that he pretty much knows unconsciously where I am so he doesn't accidentally turn over and crush me.

Tonight I'm sleeping on his chest when my ears twitch. I hear rustling, like blankets, and it's not Sanji. I open my eyes and glance around the dark room. Usopp and Luffy are dead to the world so that just leaves…

I look at Zoro's hammock and sure enough, he's tossing and turning. I can't help but gape at the sight; I thought Sanji having a nightmare was weird, _this_ is just...other-worldly. I can barely make out a serious but pained look on Zoro's face and pick up some muttering.

Okay, curiosity has been piqued. I carefully climb off Sanji and leap from the hammock, landing quietly on the ground. I make my way over to Zoro cautiously, wary of the moving hammock. With the way Zoro is moving, I'm afraid the whole thing is gonna come crashing down.

I frown slightly and jump up onto the hammock, landing on Zoro's chest. Surprisingly, my presence doesn't wake him up, but it does stop him from turning so much. I crawl closer to his face and start tapping him, "Pika, pika pi." _'Zoro, wake up.'_ I whisper.

He doesn't respond, he just keeps muttering. I can hear the names Arlong, Mihawk, and...Kuina? Who's that? I tap him again and again, getting a bit louder each time. "Pika. Pika. Pika pi." _'C'mon Zoro, wake up.'_ No response.

 _'Wake up.'_

No response.

 _'Wake up!'_ I finally whisper harshly, giving his chest a small pounce with both my front paws. Zoro's eyes fly open and he sits up abruptly, throwing me off him. I let out a soft squeak and manage to grab onto the edge of the hammock. I peek over with a scowl, ready to give him a piece of my mind for throwing me but my scowl softens when I see his face. Sweat is beading his forehead and he's shaking pretty badly. That must've been one intense dream.

I watch as he gets out of the hammock and climbs out of the porthole quietly, without disturbing anyone. I frown at the closed porthole and head up there myself; my curiosity still has to be sated. I climb the ladder and after many attempts, manage to open the porthole, climb out and close it quietly. Man, that thing is heavy! Being small really sucks sometimes.

I rub the sleep out of my eyes and wander out to the deck where my ears pick up grunts and the sound of swords swinging. I climb the stairs to the upper deck on the back of the ship and peek out to see Zoro. It looks like he's training; is that really a good idea with those injuries he got from Arlong?

It feels weird, feeling concerned for him. I already established that I wasn't a big fan of his rough standoffish attitude. I still have that feeling of trust around him, but it's just a speck compared to Sanji, Nami and Luffy. Even Usopp's was bigger than his (though only by a slight amount). I sigh and walk towards him. He's technically my crewmate now so it's my job to look out for him, right? "Pika pi?" _'You okay?'_ I ask.

Zoro glances at me, but doesn't stop swinging. "What do you want?" he asks sharply.

I frown uneasily and step a little closer to him. "Pikachu-" I suddenly leap back to avoid a narrow swing from his swords.

"I don't have time for you, damn rodent." Zoro says irritably. "So beat it."

I frown; this was going to be difficult. Talking obviously wasn't going to get him to open up to me, so what would? I watch as he puts down two of his swords and keeps the white hilted one in his grasp. My ears twitch as I hear the sound of the metal cutting the air as he gives it a swing and my eyes fall on my tail. A grin grows on my face and I make my way towards Zoro as he picks up another sword. He begins a series of swings and I watch carefully for an opening.

The minute I see one, I jump in. There's a loud clang and Zoro stares at me as I block one of his swords with my now iron tail. I smirk at him as our weapons come apart, and he swings at me again, this time with both his swords. They're easy to block; I can tell he's holding back on me. He's testing me.

Keeping my tail iron we both grin. "Alright rodent." Zoro says, putting his third sword in his mouth. "Show me what you can do."

"Pika." I respond and I leap towards him. Clanging fills the air as we spar under the moonlight. I flip and jump every which way, my tail clashing with his swords at every opportunity. I have to keep my instincts on high to keep up with his three swords; it certainly isn't easy. I guess all that dodging and flipping I had to do during fights in the Baratie really paid off.

After a while, we come to a stop, both of us breathing heavily. Zoro takes the sword out of his mouth, "Being matched by a puny rodent...I really must be losing it." he comments.

I frown. "Pika pika." _'I can understand you, you know.'_

Zoro sheaths his two swords, ignoring me. "If I can't beat a rodent, how can I keep my promise?" he mutters. My ears perk up; promise?

Zoro sits on the deck and just stares out at the ocean. I slowly walk over and sit down next to him, not saying a word. "I promised her I would become the world's greatest swordsman." he says. I can't tell if he's talking to himself or to me. "I have to get stronger," He glances at his chest, at his injuries. "Or everything Kuina worked for...will be for nothing."

I stare at Zoro. So this Kuina was a friend he made a promise to? It sounds like a promise he made a long time ago, judging by his skills now. I look at his eyes and see how distant they look. I can feel sadness and regret coming off of him; man these guys can really have intense emotions.

But now his nightmare makes sense. Kuina...she's dead isn't she? Or something happened to her; whatever it is, Zoro can never see her again, and that promise he made is the only thing he has left of her. That must be why he was so anxious to fight Mihawk, even though he knew how strong that guy was compared to him.

I wonder if I made any promises like that, before I lost my memory… A few of the smaller figures in my mind flash with barely any more clarity. Geez brain, would you just remember already?!

I look up at Zoro again and still feel the regret lingering; I guess sparring with him wasn't the best idea. He's one of the strongest fighters here, yet he still wants to prove himself. How can I prove that he's strong?

I stand up and face Zoro, but he doesn't look at me. My tail lights up and I swing it right towards him as hard as I can. He holds up his hand and catches my tail, completely stopping my attack. I give him a knowing smile; I guess he won that round.

Zoro holds my tail as it turns back to normal, and holds me upside down. "If you're not gonna take this seriously, then go to bed." he says before dropping me. I land on my feet and start heading back to the stairs. I have to admit, that sparring thing was pretty fun; I could really power up if I could train like that more often.

"Hey rodent." I stop and turn back to Zoro. "Next time, I won't hold back." he says, all traces of regret gone from his being.

I grin and give a firm nod. "Pikachu." _'I look forward to it.'_ I can't help but beam inwardly with pride as the feeling of trust grows bigger; mission accomplished!

I make my way back to bed and glance up at Sanji. He's still sleeping, but his expression seems a bit troubled. I gently leap into the hammock and curl up next to him, making his expression calm again. Wow, he's more used to sleeping with me than I thought. I close my eyes and fall asleep quickly, Sanji's arm curling around me.

* * *

I stretch lazily as the sun beats down on the Merry the next morning. It felt so good to just relax. I close my eyes and feel the gentle sea breeze wash over me; that combined with the sun made me feel so loose and carefree. I spy Zoro leaning against the railing; he's enjoying this peaceful atmosphere as much as me.

I trot over and climb onto his stomach, making him open his eyes. He looks down at me questionably. "What are you doing?"

I simply curl up and close my eyes in response; I just want to join in on the fun. I can feel him still glaring at me but me makes no move to get rid of me. Guess our little talk last night changed his outlook on me. "Damn rat..."

I give him a smile, let out a content sigh and we both relax...until the peace is disrupted by Usopp. I glance over and see that his eyes are just about on fire. Sanji had also kicked Luffy to the ground for trying to steal one of Nami's tangerines. "Nami~!" he exclaims happily. "Did you see how I protected your trees?"

"Yes, you're doing very well." she responds. I can practically feel the smirk on her face.

Zoro glances over with me. "Cook's getting used again; poor bastard."

I let out a sigh. _'You got that right...'_

I almost toppled off of Zoro when the rest of the crew let out a scream of joy/horror (I couldn't tell which). Apparently, there was now a wanted poster with Luffy's name and face, asking for 30 million berries for his capture.

To Nami, this wasn't the greatest thing, but Luffy was ecstatic. I guess if you're a pirate, a bounty on your head means you're going a step in the right direction. And 30 million berries? That was a lot of money for the capture of one guy! Then again, this was Luffy we were talking about; if someone actually managed to capture him _and_ bring him all the way to the Marines, I think that someone would want _a lot_ of money for their trouble.

Sanji looks pretty excited about maybe getting a bounty one day; I should have known the guy was a pirate at heart. Maybe that means I can get one too; though I have no idea how. I can hear Nami complaining about how we were going to be hunted for the rest of our lives, but it doesn't bug me. Sure, it was gonna be a pain, but knowing that I was with people like Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji made me feel a lot...safer, I guess.

I look at Zoro who is staring into space, but with a thoughtful look in his eye. He glances at me and returns his gaze to the sky. "With a bounty like this, we're gonna have to deal with a lot, Rodent." he says to me. "Top Marine soldiers and bounty hunters will be after us, and they're gonna be tough."

Ah, so he was thinking about all the future battles we may have. The way he said it put me a bit on edge though. Maybe this wouldn't be as safe as I thought it was gonna be. I frown slightly and look out to sea.

Sanji had taught me that the sea was a very unpredictable place; just what was out there waiting for us?

* * *

It doesn't take long for Zoro and I to get back to our nap. We managed to get some shut-eye for a few good hours until my ears twitched ever so slightly. I open one eye and spy a ship sailing right next to ours, or, at least what was left of a ship. The thing was practically a train wreck! I haven't seen a boat that banged up since Kreig came to the Baratie!

Some guy is yelling at Luffy, something about him being under arrest, and his voice sounds...very familiar. I lift my head a little higher and recognition sets in; it's Wine guy! That jerk from way back when whose terrible behavior forced Sanji's hand, or leg. I notice that Zoro has woken up too as Wine guy orders his men to aim the cannons.

I jump off of Zoro so he can get up and get his swords. Luffy readies his fist, "Don't worry, I got this." he says, but Zoro steps up. "Let me handle this, Luffy."

"Huh? Why?"

Usopp pulls him back. "Trust me, just stand over here."

Wine guy fires the cannon right at Zoro, but one slash of his sword cuts the cannonball clean in half. I watch in awe as the two halves of the cannonball fly into the ocean; the perks of having the greatest swordsman on your crew!

"Well, there's more where that came from! Fire!" Wine guy yells. The cannon takes aim again, but the thing is so old and cracked that it just explodes right there on the spot. I snicker at the sight of Wine guy and his crew (if you can even call them that) covered in smoke and gunpowder.

Wine guy's boat then hits ours, making a clear path for them to jump on and board our ship. "Follow me men! Attack!" Wine guy yells and he and his crew jump onto the Merry. Wine guy goes straight for Luffy, raising his iron knuckles. "Your head is mine!" His fist strikes Luffy's cheek, but his neck stretches quite a ways back. Now that guy was asking for it.

"Gum Gum…" Luffy's head starts to whip back towards Wine guy. "...Bell!" I wince as his head conks Wine guy's with an audible dong. Wine guy falls back against the railing, a red mark on his forehead.

While Luffy takes care of the rest of the Marines, I spy Sanji coming up towards us, a frying pan in his hand. I trot over to him and he looks down at me. "What's all the commotion?" I simply point to Wine guy and his gaze darkens; he definitely recognizes the bastard.

Wine guy lets out a scream of terror as Sanji's glare bares into him. "You've got a lot of balls to pick a fight during lunch; I oughta kill you for that." Sanji growls. "Unless you have a reservation, I'll have to ask you to leave." He looks down at me. "Pika-chan, show our guest out."

I grin toothily next to him, sparks flying from my cheeks; I've been wanting to have a shot at this guy for the longest time. I leap back a few feet and take aim. Words cannot describe the excitement I'm feeling right now.

Wine guy stares at me, waving his hands in front of him, "N-No, wait!" Too late for mercy. In the blink of an eye, I zoom towards him at top speed. White energy surrounds me for an instant and my head makes contact with Wine guy's stomach. Wine guy gasps before he crashes right through the railing and through the hull of his own ship.

I smile proudly and let out a laugh as Wine guy and his pathetic Marines all abandon ship and start swimming anywhere but where we are. That was certainly fun; I needed to let loose! "That guy's still nothing but a wimp." Sanji mutters.

"Pika." I agree.

Sanji then turns to Nami. "Nami~! I finished preparing you a delicious meal~!"

Luffy grins widely with a bit of drool on his lip. "Alright! Let's eat!" he yells.

I light up; lunch definitely sounds good right about now.

* * *

Once lunch is done, Nami calls us all together and lays a map out on the deck. "We're getting close to the Grand Line, and the only way to get to it is through Reverse Mountain." she points to a spot on the map.

Oh yeah, Reverse Mountain. I remember Sanji told me about it once; he said that Zeff told him that it's the only way into the Grand Line. Sanji voices my thoughts (I swear, we think the exact same things so often, it's almost scary) but Usopp questions why.

"Because it's dangerous." Sanji answers simply.

Usopp's still not satisfied. "Yeah, but how come?"

"That's all I know!" Sanji bites back. Nami's about to explain why when Luffy buts in and says we should just sail right into the Grand Line. Nami doesn't even bother reprimanding him, it's not worth the headache.

However, Luffy does suggest stopping at an island so we can get supplies aka meat. Not a bad idea since we were heading to the most dangerous parts of the sea. Nami points to another location on the map. "There's a famous city on this island called Loguetown." she says.

"Why's it famous?" Luffy asks. Nami's gaze hardens.

"It's the town where the old Pirate King Gold Rogers was both born and killed." she answered.

I tense up ever so slightly. So this was the home and grave of the guy who Luffy wanted to inherit the title King of the Pirates from. No wonder the place was famous. One look at Luffy's face and I can already tell that our next destination was planned out.

We're off to Loguetown.

* * *

 **Just the image of Zoro napping with a Pikachu makes me melt X3 And yes, Pika-chan will be having moments like this hopefully with all the Straw Hats.**

 **Yaaaaaaaaay character development!**


	15. Cooking Contest

After a few days, we had finally arrived. Loguetown, the place of beginnings and endings. It felt good to finally be standing at the entrance of the city. Nami says that whenever pirates are heading to the Grand Line, they stop here to get supplies.

"Looks like I'll be able to stock up on fresh produce." Sanji says before grinning, "And fresh women." I sweatdrop and fight the urge to smack him. I know I'll be able to satisfy that urge when we actually start shopping. Usopp plans to go to some trinket shops, Zoro wants to find a sword shop, and Luffy wants to find where Gol Rogers was executed. He says as much before running off into the crowd.

"Wait, we have to pick a meeting place!" Usopp yells after him, but it falls on deaf ears. Ah well, it'll work out.

With our plans in mind, we all head our separate ways. As I guessed, Sanji has hearts in his eyes the minute we start walking. Luckily, having so many women around works to my advantage since he doesn't know where to start. Thank Arceus, I was afraid I'd be chasing him all over the place like Luffy.

However at one point, Sanji stops in his tracks, his eyes practically bugging out of his head. I follow his gaze to see a very pretty woman with long black hair wearing a cowboy hat and a long cape around her entire figure. Even I had to admit, she stood out compared to the rest of the women. However, she slips out of our sight the minute we blink.

"Huh? Where'd she go?" Sanji wonders frantically.

I roll my eyes, _'Don't know, don't care; can we just get the groceries already?'_ Of course, my complaint is lost in translation as Sanji begins to search for her. He finds quite a few girls who resemble that woman, but none of them are her.

After a while, he sighs, "I guess she's gone, like a rose in the wind…" he says wistfully.

I give his leg a smack with my tail (including a tiny shock) and point to the stands, "Pika pika!" I say. _'Don't we have shopping to do?'_

"You're right Pika-chan." Sanji says, a tinge of disappointment in his voice. "We have shopping to do, so lets get to it." Finally! "Let's head uptown; the market should be around there somewhere." Sanji says.

I nod and begin to trot after him. We walk for a few moments until we're interrupted again. "Sanji~!"

Sanji and I both stop in our tracks and turn around. A woman wearing just about all pink was standing a few feet behind us, a fluffy fan in her hands and a...soup ladle in her mouth (the hell?). "Ten long years of searching...and I've finally found you!"

Two men appear behind her, making her presence even more known; practically everyone within a two mile radius around us has stopped to stare.

"Behold the Amazing Carmen!"

"The greatest cook in the East Blue!"

...Say what?

Carmen looks at us, but mostly at Sanji. "I am passionate; some call me Fiery Carmen!" The trio then does some weird dance move and pose.

"I am the first apprentice of Carmen; Leo!" The first man speaks up and we can see him clearly. Let's just say, I never knew someone's chin could take up so much of their face. Congrats man.

"And I am her second; Jose!" The second man at last looked pretty normal compared to the other guy, only his eyes were huge- wait… That's his nose?! Oh yeah, that's not terrifying at all! I sweat drop along with everyone else in the square. I don't know what kind of face I was making but it was probably a mixture of frightened and disgusted. Sanji and I had seen some weird stuff on both the Baratie and the Going Merry, but this took the cake. I can't imagine what Sanji must be thinking right now.

"You...are beauty itself!"

I fall and faceplant the pavement along with everyone around us. "Pika pika…" I mutter irritably, dragging a paw down my face as Sanji walks towards her, hearts in his eyes. _'Dammit Sanji...'_

Sanji gets on one knee, takes her hand and goes to kiss it. I wince as he immediately gets a frying pan to the face. _'Ouch...'_

"Oh...so passionate…" Sanji says dreamily, despite the pain he was probably feeling. Oh who am I kidding, whenever he gets this way, pain bounces off him like water. "Tell me Carmen, how is it we know each other?" Okay, at least he has the sense to ask a legit question! I wanna know too!

Carmen twirls back to her underlings and poses again. "Boys, tell him the story."

"Yes Ma'am!" Leo holds out a long wooden pizza shovel and points it to Sanji. On top of it is a big pile of cards. I jump on Sanji's shoulder as he picks up multiple cards. Oh wait, they aren't cards, they're pictures.

"These are other chefs." Sanji observes.

"Indeed!" Sanji and I recoil as Jose bursts through the cards appearing right in our faces. At least now Sanji and I have the same reaction. Seeing those huge nostrils up close is just...uncomfortably freaky and gross. "These are the most famous cooks of the East Blue!" he says before backing away (thank Arceus).

Leo poses with him again. Seriously what's up with these guys and dancing? "And the Great Carmen defeated every one of them in competition!" Oh Arceus, this isn't going where I think it is, is it?

"Yes, the cooks I've faced have all been...disappointing competition." Carmen says, fanning herself. "But then a former cook of the Baratie said you were the best chef in the East Blue and that you had no equal!" It's totally going where I think it is, I know it… "From that day forward, I spent the last ten years searching for you!"

Ten years? Damn, talk about commitment; that's pretty intense for a cook... "Actually, it's only been ten days." Jose points out. Aaaand the intensity is gone. She's just crazy.

Carmen then takes out her ladle and smacks both of her cohorts with it. Yep, definitely crazy. She points directly at Sanji. "Now, I challenge you Sanji!" she announces. "If you dare bring your spices to the cooking competition at the market place today, you shall be minced like garlic!"

Ah, there's the challenge I was waiting for. She lets out a hearty laugh and begins to spin, so fast that she actually begins to raise into the air. We all gape as she climbs higher and higher until she disappears. Holy crap! She can teleport?! Oh, no, wait, she just got dizzy and fell. Her two underlings catch her and run off down the street.

Sanji gets up and sighs, "Finally, a woman with the same passion as me."

I frown at him and give the back of his head a light smack with my tail. "Pika! Pikachu!" _'That lady has a screw loose! Seriously, out of all the women you've flirted with, she is definitely not for you!'_

"So kid, you gonna compete?" An old man asks out of nowhere. To my surprise, Sanji shakes his head. "Nah, I'm not one for contests." I look at him as he walks down the street. I thought Sanji would love to do competitive cooking.

Sanji sees my expression and gives me a scratch under the chin. "All I care about is keeping people fed, Pika-chan." he explains. "A contest would be fun but just a waste of time." I can't tell if that answer is cocky or deep, but I understand. It was just one little contest anyway, and honestly, if not going meant staying away from that Carmen lady and her creepy henchmen, I was completely fine with it.

After a while I hop off his shoulder to walk on my own until we reach the docks. I jump up on the railing and we see the marketplace. Well, I guess now would be a good a time as any to stock up on food supplies. I jump back onto Sanji's shoulder to avoid getting lost in the crowd and we enter the fish market.

Both our eyes widen as we take in all the different varieties of fish, all iced and fresh. "This is incredible!" Sanji exclaims. "They have everything a great chef could want!"

"Pika!" _'I'll say!'_ Seriously, the amount of dishes Sanji could make with all these fish probably enter the hundreds, thousands tops.

Sanji leans over a box of iced fish, "These are superb!"

"Pika pika!"

"You certainly know how to pick 'em!" The salesman says. "You're looking at some coastal fish we caught fresh this morning!" Really? These are from the coast?

Sanji picks one of them up, "They're certainly firm and fresh," he observes. I lean in and sniff the air around it; yep, it's definitely fresh, almost perfectly. Thanks to living at the Baratie for a few months, my nose is pretty accustomed when it comes to food objects; perks of living with chefs.

"Are you sure they're from the East Blue; I've never seen fish like these before." Sanji says.

The salesman grins. "You certainly know your way around seafood." he says. "These fish are naturally from the West Blue."

Sanji and I look intrigued. "The West Blue...then why do you call them coastal fish?" Sanji asks.

"Young man, is this your first time here?" Salesman asks. Sanji nods and Salesman picks a fish up. He explains that a current brings a whole bunch of different fish from the different seas right near Loguetown, so people could experience all the different kinds of fish. Wow, this town is practically sitting on a culinary goldmine! I wonder if it was just luck that this town ended up having so many amazing things…

My ears twitch as I hear multiple exciting voices. We turn to the dock to see a crowd gathering; apparently the fishermen had just come in with some new fish. The crowd is huge; it must be something really amazing. Sanji and I get to the front of the crowd and- Holy mother of Arceus, that fish is HUGE!

"An Elephant Blue Fin Tuna! Nice catch!" Salesman exclaims. One of the fishermen grins, "It must have gotten mixed in from the South Blue; I caught her with a line and pole!" Wow, I'm surprised the line didn't snap; I mean that thing is bigger than Sanji, and that's saying a lot!

"A Bluefin Tuna…" Sanji says softly.

I look at him and see that he looks deep in thought. "Pika?" _'Sanji? You okay?'_ I ask, but he doesn't respond. I then catch a familiar glint in his eyes; it's the same glint he gets when he's talking about the All Blue. Ah, that explains it. The guy said it was all the way from the South Blue. How did a fish that huge get so far from home? I can relate to that…

The men start to carry the fish off when Sanji steps forward, "Hold on a second!" he says. "How much for it?" he asks. Whoa, what? "Sell the fish to me; I've got money!" Wait, we're actually gonna buy that monster? Holy crap, that would be awesome!

The fisherman shakes his head and my excitement fades. "Sorry, but this fish is gonna be the grand prize in the Cooking Contest." My disappointment fades like the wind. It's a prize? "The Cooking Contest starts today, and chefs from all over the world come to compete." Salesman explains. I can feel excitement starting to build up inside me as the men start to carry the tuna away.

"Registration is over there." Salesman says pointing. "Better hurry before it closes." He walks off and my eyes light up. We had hit the jackpot! All we had to do was win one measly contest for that amazing thing?

I can't believe our luck! Sanji will kick everyone's sorry butt in that contest getting a super rare tuna out of it that could feed us for weeks and maybe even give Sanji a hint towards the All Blue! It's a win-win! "Pika! Pika pikachu!" I say with vigor.

Sanji grins, clearly having the same thought process as me. "Yeah, a contest; sounds like a plan."

"Pika!" I cheer, fist pumping the air. As we walk towards registration I can't help but feel like we're forgetting something...something about a crazy lady who cooks…? ...Eh, probably nothing.

We register just in the nick of time and head over to the tables where the contestants are all gathered. I sit on the table and Sanji leans back in his chair, not nervous in the slightest. Yeah, that Bluefin Tuna is in the bag!

"I'm glad you decided to show, Sanji." That voice...oh Arceus, now I remember! We both turn to see Carmen and her cronies, sitting a few feet away. "This should be fun; I've never had any real competition before."

I blink and Sanji's already trying to kiss her hand again. I only sigh as his face gets another pan-smash. "Yes, that's the fiery passion I crave!" he gushes.

"Pika…" I groan as Carmen's henchmen shoo Sanji away. Save the flirting for after the contest, please? The I can give you some _much deserved_ shock therapy.

"Heeeey! Sanji! Pika-chan!"

My ears twitch and I look to see Nami and Usopp among the crowd. "Pika!" I wave at them catching Sanji's attention. We both hurry over to them.

"Nami! You came to watch me compete!" Sanji cries.

I jump on his shoulder greet them. "Pika pika!"

"Heck no; we were just walking by." Nami says.

"What made you decide to enter a cooking contest Sanji?" Usopp asks. Oh, there's quite a story behind that…

"Usopp, when did you get here?" Sanji asks. Nami and I both sweatdrop.

"I'm the one who called you over here, jerk!" Usopp yells. I turn back to the stage where the first two chefs have already begun the first round; looks the contest has begun. "So you really want to be known as the greatest chef in the East Blue?" Usopp asks.

"Don't be stupid," Sanji says. "I'm only after one thing, and that's the fish." He points to the tunafish and I nod firmly; we were gonna get that monster for sure!

"Yeah, that does look like a nice fish!" Nami comments.

"It sure does, but the hard part will be getting that fish to talk." Sanji says. My face becomes confused for a moment, but softens after a minute; I really hope that fish has some kind of clue to the All Blue. "Pika-chan, you stay here with Nami and Usopp." Sanji says. "I'll be back in a bit with that fish."

"Pikachu!" I nod and leap onto Nami's shoulder. _'Good luck!'_ Sanji heads back to the table and the contest gets underway. I never knew competitive cooking could be so intense! Everyone cheers loudly and Nami, Usopp and I cheer the loudest when Sanji is up.

As I expected, he wins every round without any trouble, until finally, it's the final round. Sanji vs Carmen. I roll my eyes as Sanji gives a heartfelt wave to Carmen at the beginning; that flirty side of his better not cost him the contest.

We all watch intently as the round begins and they both start cooking. I keep my eyes on Sanji the whole time; he's focused and serious, all his attention on the food. I smile; I should've known that the All Blue would keep Carmen from distracting him.

Before we know it, the contest is over and both Sanji and Carmen have finished their meals. Everyone waits in anticipation as the judges try the food and give their verdict to the announcer. "The winner of this year's Cooking Competition is…" My grip tightens ever so slightly on Nami's shirt and my heart lifts when the announcer opens his mouth. "San-"

"WAIT!"

Huh? We all look to Carmen who stands up and walks over to Sanji. I frown slightly; what's she gonna do?

"I can never forgive myself…" My ears perk up. "I can't believe I thought I could beat you." Whoa, is she shaking? I listen as she says that she watched Sanji cook when he was a kid, back on the ship he worked on, and how his ambition motivated her to work extra hard to be the best so that she could show him what she's learned. Wow, she really wasn't crazy after all!

She smiles at Sanji, "You beat me fair and square." she says. "You truly are the number one cook in the East Blue."

Sanji smiles and gets up; oh I think we all know where this is going. "Carmen, that's the best compliment anyone has ever given me!" he gushes coming towards her. Thankfully, one of her henchmen takes up the frying pan to stop him. Thank you giant chin man.

"I'm forfeiting this round." Carmen states, her smile still on her face. "But be ready for the next round; I won't lose to you again."

Sanji smirks. "If it's a challenge from you, I'll gladly accept." he says.

I smile broadly as the announcer continues. "The winner of this year's Cooking Contest is...Sanji!" We all cheer loudly, Nami, Usopp, and I cheering the loudest.

* * *

 **I love the cooking contest in this arc so much! It's just always awesome watching Sanji kick ass in the kitchen; Chef Ramsay's got NOTHING on this man! (Please tell me I'm not the only one horrified by Carmen's henchmen *shudder*)**


	16. The Storm Calls

**Over a hundred reviews...you guys...you guuuuuys...I'm seriously speechless that I've gotten so many in so little time! Thank you soooooo much! You give me so much motivation to keep writing so that's just what I'm gonna do, no matter how long this story gets! Oh, say thanks to all your fans Pika-chan!**

 **Pika-chan: Pika pika, pikachu! 'Thanks for all the support you guys!'**

 **Before we begin: quick shout-out to Fanboy 316: Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely consider it for a future chapter so keep an eye out for it! Someone has to take care of the girls Sanji can't fight after all! ;)**

* * *

Once the crowd disperses, the tuna is wrapped up and ready for us to transport it back to the ship. Usopp and Sanji carry each end of the tuna while Nami carries the rest of our supplies. Me? I hitch a ride on top of the wrapped tuna; after all, I couldn't help carry so I might as well take advantage.

I had to admit, it had been a very fruitful day. Sanji won the contest, we got a gigantic fish out of it, and Sanji had even gained himself a rival. We would have to keep our ears open for Carmen's name whenever another cooking competition came up; if this round was that fierce, the next one would be a bloodbath! And I mean that in the most affectionate way possible.

"That was a lot of fun!" Nami comments.

"How did I get stuck with the heavy end?" Usopp complains.

I laugh and turn back to Sanji. He's tuned out everything, with a curious and inspired look in his eye that I knew pretty well. He was thinking of all the ways he was gonna cook this sucker. I had to admit I was pretty curious too; with a fish this big the possibilities were endless! I'm definitely looking forward to helping out in the kitchen when dinner rolls around.

I grin at Sanji, pride beating inside me. It's weird for something like me to say, but I'm really damn proud of him. I'm snapped out of my thoughts when Nami stops, causing Usopp and Sanji to stop as well.

"What's up Nami?" Usopp asks.

"The air…" Nami says, looking at the sky. "It's going to rain, I'm sure of it." Rain? Really? I look up at the sky; there isn't a dark cloud in sight. Nami tells us to hurry back and no one argues; well, no one knows the weather better than the navigator.

We pick up the pace a bit, making our way back to the ship, but after a while my ears twitch ever so slightly. I had this really bad feeling in my gut; something was wrong. The others feel it too, and Nami says the storm is coming up fast. We run into Zoro a few seconds later who apparently lost Luffy, but he's getting that bad feeling too. Something bad is gonna happen, no doubt.

A bunch of people suddenly start running through the town, looking terrified.

"Pirates are here!"

"It's Buggy the Clown!"

I tilt my head at the name. Nami and Zoro seem to know him; probably someone they ran into in the past. My ears perk up when I hear the next part.

"It's time for the execution!"

"Buggy the Clown is gonna kill Straw Hat Luffy!"

Wait, what?! This Buggy guy is gonna kill Luffy?! "They're gonna execute him?!" Usopp exclaims.

"That idiot!" Nami exclaims.

"Let's go!" Zoro yells.

"Hold this!" Sanji yells letting go of the tuna. I jump off just in time as Zoro and Sanji run off towards the square, leaving Usopp carrying the whole fish.

Nami grabs the back of Usopp's shirt, "C'mon, let's go!" she urges.

"Where?" Usopp asks.

"The harbor, stupid!" Nami retorts. I glance at them before taking off after Sanji, ignoring Usopp and Nami's calls for me to come back. I try to catch up with them, but it isn't long before I lose sight of them thanks to all the trampling feet. It takes all my reflexes to not get stepped on!

I eventually slip away into the alleys where there are less people and by then, the storm clouds have already rolled in. I hear thunder rumbling in the distance and I feel a few raindrops on my fur. I have to hurry and find the others and help save Luffy!

"Use the storm."

I suddenly skid to a halt. "Pika?" _'Who was that?'_ I heard someone; were they talking to me?

"Lightning is your essence, is it not?"

I glance around frantically until I spy a dark cloaked figure in the shadows. Who is that? I can make out long hair and a dark tattoo on his face. But not only that...his scent and his presence...they seem familiar… "This storm is your weapon; use it wisely, and you can save your captain."

I stare at him. What is he saying? Use the storm? I glance up at the lightning flashing in the sky and feel my fur stand on end. I look back and realize that my tail has risen on its own, like...it's being drawn to the lightning...wait! That's it!

I look back at the figure who still hasn't moved. "Let the lightning be your guide; when the time comes you will know what to do." He turns and disappears into the darkness. I look back up at the sky and nod firmly.

I have no idea if I should trust that guy, or if what he's saying is even true, but I have to try! I jump onto the nearest windowsill and start climbing the building. In no time I reach the roof and the wind picks up. I listen intently and hear the sounds of yelling and gunshots; that has to be the place! I run from rooftop to rooftop until a large square comes into view. I can see a familiar straw hat on an execution platform and a guy with a big red nose standing over him with a sword; I'm assuming that's Buggy.

The single rooftops end and I leap onto the roof of the large building behind the platform and skid to a halt right in the middle, right over Luffy and Buggy. Zoro and Sanji are down in the crowd, taking out the pirates on the ground. I grit my teeth and make to jump down into the fray when I remember that guy's words.

 _'Let the lightning be your guide.'_

I take a deep breath and focus on the storm around me. The howling wind, the rumbling thunder, the lightning, I take it all in. My fur stands on end and my tail twitches, anxious for action. I can hear Buggy laughing as he raises his sword, but I keep concentrating. Luffy's life depends on it! _'Wait...'_

"This is the end!"

 _'Wait…'_

"Straw Hat Luffy!"

 _'Not yet...'_

"Now die!"

My eyes snap open. _'Now!'_ I jump into the air, feeling the air around me crackle with electricity.

"Zoro, Sanji." Luffy says at that moment. "Sorry, but…" He lifts his head and gives the biggest grin he can. "I'm dead."

I frown as I raise my tail. _'Oh no you're not!'_ I feel the lightning strike my tail and my eyes widen. I can feel power course through me as I absorb the lightning like I would sunlight. It feels good...no, it feels great! I look down at Buggy and let sparks fly from my cheeks, sparks that are the same color as the lightning. I direct my attack towards the platform and hold nothing back.

Buggy freezes as electricity coursed through his sword and his entire body. The whole platform crackles as my lightning passes through it. Everything seems to freeze before the platform erupts into blue flames and topples over just as the sky opens up with a downpour. Buggy falls over as well, brown and well done. I really should remind Sanji that my electricity can really cook things well.

As I fall towards the ground, I see Luffy's hat had been swept up in the wind from the fall. I grab it in my teeth and land easily on the concrete. I trot over to Luffy, who's broken out of his wooden imprisonment and takes the hat from me, a smile still on his face. He places it on his head and laughs. "Hey! I'm still alive! Awesome!"

Everyone gapes at what had just occurred and I just let out a small laugh along with Luffy. Sanji had even dropped his cigarette! Luffy and I walk towards our two crewmates and they look down at me incredulously.

"Pika-chan…" Sanji starts, not even knowing what to say. "How did you…"

"Pika!" I say simply and raise my tail for them to see, pointing up. They look up at the sky, seeing the lightning still flash and then look back at me. Sparks come from my cheeks and I redirect a few to surround my tail for a few seconds to get the message across.

"So, your tail," Sanji says starting to understand. "It's like a lightning rod." I nod happily, very pleased with my revelation. I was definitely going to use this ability more often. I just keep surprising myself with what I can do! But...how did that guy know I could do this? And who was he? ...And why did he remind me so much of Luffy?

My eyes widen as Marines suddenly emerge and surround everyone. "Here they come!" Sanji yells.

The Marines charge and engage with the pirates. "We have to get out of here!" Zoro yells.

Sanji nods, "If we don't get back to the Going Merry we'll never leave this island, and never get to the Grand Line!"

That catches Luffy's attention. "Well, that's no good; run!" We all take off towards the harbor. Some Marines try to stop us, but we plow through them like flies. We run as fast as we can, but the rain is almost blinding! Everything looks the same! Plus, it's getting really hard to keep up with these guys! I grit my teeth and speed up; I can't run out of breath now!

"Pika-chan!" I look at Sanji who's holding out his arm towards me. I quickly leap onto his arm and climb to his shoulder; can't afford to be left behind. Suddenly, I feel a strange sensation; one that I feels like a rapid beating heart and blushing cheeks. "Oh wow! Who's that girl?" Sanji exclaims.

Ugh, we really need to work on time and place with this guy…

I look at Zoro who seems to be tense. Does he know her? "I didn't know you were the pirate Zoro…" the girl mutters. "You lied...you're just another liar!"

We skid to a halt and Sanji turns on Zoro. "Oh great, what the hell did you do to that girl?" he demands. I actually wanna know too.

Zoro steps forward, "I never told you my name so I never lied." he answers simply.

The girl glares at Zoro, "You know I'd never let you leave town with such a legendary sword!" she yells. "Give me the Wado Ichimonji!" Uh, lady, I don't think _Zoro_ of all people would give up his swords that easily.

Zoro raises his sword with the white hilt; I assume that's the one she wants. "Come and get it." he challenges. The girl grits her teeth and draws her own sword. She lunges at him but Zoro meets her easily with a block. They exchange a few swings; Zoro's really holding back using one sword and all.

"You jerk, you can't fight a girl!" Sanji yells.

I give him a look. "Pika?" _'Who says you can't?'_ Last I checked, girls can be just as tough as guys.

"I can take care of myself!" The girl yells. "This is between me and him, so back off!"

"You heard her," Zoro says. "Get out of here."

Luffy grins and nods, "Let's go!"

"Pika!" I agree with a nod.

We run past them, Sanji lingering for just a moment. "Zoro if you hurt her I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Pika…" Sanji, do not make me shock you while you're soaking wet.

We keep running until Zoro and the girl are out of sight until an archway comes into view. "I can see the ship; the harbor's ahead!" Luffy yells. But as we draw closer, a figure makes itself known, blocking our path.

"Great, now what?" Sanji asks irritably. We skid to a halt in front of a burly guy who has white hair and is smoking a huge cigar. He seems to be focused on Luffy more than us. Luffy tells us to go on ahead and we hesitantly comply. But after that whole fiasco with the execution platform, I say our worry is justified. I stay on Sanji's shoulder as we easily make our way to the harbor where Nami and Usopp are getting the Merry ready to set sail.

"Nami~!" Sanji calls.

"Pika pi!" _'Usopp, Nami, wait up!'_

"Sanji! Pika-chan!" Nami exclaims happily.

"Where are the others?" Usopp asks.

"Who cares, we'll pick them up later!" Sanji responds. Cold response, Sanji. But yeah, they'll be fine...right?

"Behind you!" Nami yells. I glance at all the Marines behind us and I leap from Sanji's shoulder, giving him a small tap to let him know that I got this. I zap as many as I can with a lightning bolt, keeping my instincts on alert should I want to invoke the help of the storm again. I get a majority of them, but plenty more still come for Sanji to beat with his kicks. Usopp even decides to jump into the fray but even with all three of us they just keep coming!

I shock them, I knock them back with my tail, but it's no use! Looks like I'm gonna have to take them all out in one fell swoop. The lightning is getting more intense; if I wait for the perfect moment, I should be able to take down all of these clowns, no trouble. But just as I'm about to focus, a giant gust of wind sweeps through the area.

It knocks me and everyone into the air, blasting me away from Sanji and Usopp. I tumble through the air until I feel someone grab me and pull me close. I open my eyes, expecting Sanji, but it's Nami! She grits her teeth as she holds onto the railing of the Merry with all her might and keeping a firm grip on me. I cling to her tightly, praying to Arceus that we won't get blown into the ocean and the wind slowly comes to a stop. Nami and I fall to the ground, still holding each other tightly and shivering from the shock. "That was scary…" Nami says softly.

"Pika…" I agree.

"Oh no!" Nami's eyes widen as she gets to her feet still holding me. She runs to the rear of the ship and our eyes widen; that wind blew us out to sea! Loguetown is getting smaller by the second! "Luffy! Sanji!" Nami yells.

"Pika pika!" I can barely see all of them looking at us from the harbor; will they be able to make it? We both watch as we hear something stretch and a bunch of yells followed by a huge pile of people sailing towards us. They bounce off the sail and land on the deck; well, that was solved quicker than I thought it would be.

"You made it!" Nami exclaims happily.

"Pikachu!" _'Glad you could make it!'_

Sanji gives Luffy a small kick to the head, "Idiot...never do that again!"

The loud thunder above us snaps up back to attention; we have to get through this storm don't we? Everyone runs this way and that, keeping the sails steady so we don't capsize. All I can do is hold onto something and stay out of everyone's way; I'm not much help with physical labor thanks to my size. I guess I can keep a lookout for any ships chasing us; those Marines and other pirates seemed pretty intent on catching Luffy back there. I wouldn't put it past them to follow us and try it again.

After a while, a light blinks in the distance, almost like a lighthouse. Nami says it's called a Guide Post. "It means the entrance to the Grand Line is somewhere ahead!" she explains.

We all grin at each other; this is it! We were finally heading to the Grand Line! That place was a mysterious ocean that hardly anyone ever survived; there's gotta be some clue to my past there! And with people like Sanji and Luffy, we were gonna make it all the way through! No question!

"I think we should say something for this occasion." Sanji says.

"Yeah!" Luffy agrees. I watch as they all one by one place their foot on a barrel.

"I'm going to the Grand Line...to find the All Blue." Sanji says.

"To be King of the Pirates." Luffy says.

"To be the world's greatest swordsman." Zoro says.

"To draw a world map." Nami says.

"To be the bravest warrior of the sea." Usopp says.

They all look down at me expectantly and I smile. I jump onto the barrel, in the middle of all their feet. "Pika...pi pikachu!" _'And I'm going...to find out where I came from!'_

My crewmates all grin down at me. "And now…" They all raise their feet. "...to the Grand Line!" They all proclaim.

I jump right as their feet come down smashing the barrel and flip onto Sanji's head. "Pi-ka-chu!" I cheer, raising my paw as everyone else cheers. My fur suddenly stands on end. Oh geez…

I quickly jump into the air as high as I can and stretch out my tail, catching a lightning bolt before it hits the sails. The lightning wasn't that powerful so I simply absorb it and land back on the deck. Absorbing lightning really gave me a good feeling! Poor Usopp is shivering again and Zoro, Nami and Sanji look a little on the surprised side from the close call; I guess being that close to lightning would shake someone up.

Luffy on the other hand… "Ooh, do it again! Do it again!" he says. "I wanna try!"

I can't help but smirk at him and I jump onto his shoulder. A few moments later I draw another bolt to us and we both are covered in lightning. Luffy laughs, "This is awesome!" he cheers.

"Stop drawing lightning to the ship!" Nami yells. I laugh along with Luffy as the lightning on us dies down. "Pika-chan, don't encourage him!" she adds. Luckily, it doesn't feel like any lightning is gonna hit us, so I guess I don't need to worry anymore. After all, I should save my worrying for when we get to the Grand Line. Who knows what's waiting for us there?

And it turns out, an adventure was just a few days away.

* * *

 **Hey, that random lightning bolt actually makes sense now! I do love it when the show giftwraps scenes like this for me! Lightningrod is one of my fav abilities too X3 (Cookies to whoever can guess who the hooded guy was, even though it's pretty obvious if you know your stuff)**

 **Alright, now for those who asked, yes, WE ARE DOING SENNENRYU (aka the Apis arc)! And right after that, it'll be MOVIE TIME! Look forward to future adventures!**


	17. Apis

I should've figured that going to the Grand Line was going to be one heck of a trip, but I never expected this. A little girl stranded in the water? Definitely a new one. And it was pure dumb luck that we found her and picked her up; Luffy thought she was a fish. Him grabbing her and reeling her in ended up knocking Zoro and I into the ocean while we were napping. Not a fun way to wake up. Sanji gave Luffy a good kick to the face though, so it wasn't that bad.

We brought her into the galley to rest up and I sat beside her while Usopp checked her over. I never realized it before, but this is the first time I've seen a kid up close that wasn't chasing me or squeezing me to death. I forgot how vulnerable they really are.

I carefully climb onto her stomach and gaze at her when her eyes fly open. She shoots up and our foreheads collide. We both cry out in pain, holding our throbbing heads.

"That hurt!" she whined.

"Pika pi!" After a few agonizing moments, I open my eyes to find the girl staring at me. I wait to see if she'll say anything but she stays silent. She looks pretty shell shocked, but I get where she's coming from. I know what it's like to wake up in some unknown place with no idea of where you are. At least she probably remembers what happened to her.

"You're awake!" Nami exclaims. "That was quicker than I expected."

"Nothing some grub won't cure." Sanji remarks. "I'm cooking some soup if you're hungry."

The girl grins to herself. "Lucky!" I give her a slight smile; sounds like she's an adventurous little one.

"You really are lucky." Nami says kindly. "What's your name?"

Girl suddenly frowns. "It's polite to give your names first before asking a stranger questions." she says. Wow, she has guts, speaking out to a bunch of adult strangers like that.

Nami nods, "You're right." she says. "I'm Nami, the guy making the soup is Sanji, and the guy with the nose is Usopp." Sanji and Usopp wave in greeting. "That's Zoro down there." Nami gestures to him sleeping against the wall. "Despite his scowl, he's a good guy."

"Shut up." Zoro snaps. Guess he's still pretty ticked about his dip in the ocean earlier.

"And you've already met our little friend, Pika-chan." Nami finishes.

"Pikachu!" I say, raising my paw in greeting. Girl looks at me with that stare again, full of intrigue. Then she slowly stretches her hand towards me. Once she nears my head, she hesitates.

Sanji chuckles. "Don't worry, as long as you don't make it mad, Pika-chan's as friendly as they come." Feeling a bit better, Girl places her hand on my head and gives me a stiff pat. I smile and give a little squeal of approval and she relaxes greatly, giving me a big smile. Aw, isn't she cute?

"I'm Luffy." Luffy says, looking at her. "I'm the captain of the pirate ship."

Girl lets out a shrill yell. "What?! Pirates?!" she exclaims. Oh boy...I had a feeling she wouldn't react well. She probably thinks we're evil pillagers who prey on small villages and take whatever we please. That's a pretty funny image to think about actually, considering it's Luffy we're talking about.

"Soup's on." Sanji says, filling bowls with the delicious smelling food. He passes them around and gives one to me as well. "Hungry?" he asks, looking at Girl. Girl frowns and shakes her head. I slightly frown at her while drinking my soup; I expected her to be a little hungry, I mean she was drifting in a boat for who knows how long.

I'm starting to recognize the look she has in her eyes: distrust. I looked just like that when I first woke up on the Baratie, I'm sure of it. Once everyone's finished eating and Sanji manages to save some soup before Luffy inhales the whole third pot, everyone disperses to watch the ship again.

"Pika-chan, keep an eye on our guest, alright?" Sanji says as he and Nami exit.

Nami gives Girl a wink, "Don't worry, Pika-chan will take good care of you." And with that, we're left alone.

I look at Girl and she looks away from me, turning up her nose. "Don't think I'll let my guard down just because you're really cute." she mutters. I smirk at her, holding back a laugh; I'm not gonna eat you, you know.

Girl glances at me. "Yeah, well...you're still a pirate!" she stutters. Whoa, wait a minute...did she just answer me? Answer me directly?

Girl looks at me but with a little less malice, "Yeah, I did." she says.

Ahh! She did it again! What's going on here?! I climb onto her lap causing her to flinch and I slowly make my way towards her with wide, curious eyes. How did she know what I was thinking? Is she in my head? Can she read my expressions really well like Sanji?

"I can read your mind!" Girl suddenly blurts out. "That's it okay? Stop asking so many questions!" I stare at her in amazement as she hugs herself, still avoiding my gaze. "I...I can read the minds of creatures and animals…" she admits in defeat.

I decide to give it a try. _'You can hear my thoughts?'_ I say in my mind. She gives a nod and I almost stumble back; holy crap...a human who can understand me!

She looks up at me in confusion. I rub the back of my head; she probably heard that. _'It just...feels so good to have someone be able to understand me.'_ I explain. _'Having a language barrier really isn't fun for me.'_

She gives a hint of a smile and wrings her hands. I frown a bit and tilt my head in confusion. _'Something wrong?'_ I ask.

Girl looks really conflicted and finally she looks at me frantically and blurts out, "You won't tell will you?"

I jump back slightly, my ears wilting. _'Huh?'_

"Please, don't tell them about my power!" she says.

I hold up my paws, _'Hey relax, even if I wanted to, they wouldn't understand me.'_ I reassure her. That seems to calm her down. _'Don't worry, your secret's safe with me, whether I like it or not.'_ I say with a smile.

Girl breaks into a smile and suddenly pulls me into a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you!" she gushes. "Thank you so much!" I let out a small laugh and she pulls away, beaming down at me. "By the way, my name's Apis; nice to meet you!"

I smile back, _'You can call me Pika-chan.'_ I respond.

For the rest of the day, Apis and I talk. She tells me about how she ate the Whisper Whisper Fruit, giving her her powers and how she just narrowly escaped the Marines. "I still can't believe I ended up on a pirate ship of all things; so many bad things shouldn't happen to one person at once!" she whines.

 _'Not all pirates are bad, you know.'_ I say.

"And why should I believe you?" Apis asks. "You're a pirate too!"

I give her a smirk, _'Do you think I'd be sitting here talking to you if I was an evil pirate?'_ I ask.

Apis struggles for an excuse, "Well...you're their pet; you're probably just protecting them!"

My eye twitches, _'I am not a pet.'_ I say irritably.

"But you're an animal and you stay with these pirates!" Apis protests.

 _'I'm only here because they're my friends and...well...I kinda don't have anywhere else to go...'_

"Huh?" Apis tilts her head. "What do you mean?"

I rub the back of my head sheepishly; she told me her secret, guess I should tell her mine. _'I...I have amnesia…' I admit. 'I don't know who I am or where I came from before I met my friends.'_

"But you know your name; Pika-chan, right?" Apis points out.

 _'Yeah, but it's not my real name!'_ I respond. _'Until I remember what my real name is, I'm stuck with that stupid name.'_

"I think it's kinda cute." Apis says.

 _'Exactly my point...'_ I mutter. Apis suddenly blushes as her stomach growls. _'Hungry?'_ I ask.

She shakes her head vigorously and looks away with a pout, "No, don't be silly." she says.

I give her a look, _'C'mon, we just about shared our deepest secrets with each other and you still don't trust me?'_ Apis doesn't say anything. I lean towards her, _'I know you want food; that soup really did smell great didn't it?'_

Apis whines and her eyes linger on the pot of soup that's sitting simmering on the stove. I glance out the window; it's still daylight so Luffy's probably sea watching, so we better take while the taking's good. I trot over and hop onto the stove, turning the heat on a little higher. While it heats up, I jump onto the pantry shelf carefully and manage to jump down with two soup bowls in tow. I give the soup a sniff to see if it's warm enough and turn the heat back down to a simmer.

 _'Look, I'll prove to you that we're not gonna poison you or anything.'_ I say to Apis. I stand on my tippy toes and dip one bowl into the pot, getting a decent amount of the food. I then face Apis and drink the soup in one go. I lick my lips and smile, _'See? Nothing to worry about!'_ I quickly refill my bowl and the second one, making sure to fill it a bit higher than my own.

 _'C'mon, eat with me, please?'_ I ask, giving her a sympathetic look. Apis finally gets off her makeshift bed and makes her way over to me. I nudge her bowl towards her and she slowly picks it up. She smells it again and finally gives into her hunger, gulping it all down. _'That's better!'_ I say.

"Yummy!" she says happily. "I've never had anything so tasty in my life!"

 _'What'd I tell you?'_ I say with a grin. _'And there's plenty more!'_

Apis and I help ourselves to some more soup and we sit at the table, talking and laughing. After a few moments, Sanji comes in. "Well, glad to see that you're eating." he says.

"You're finally smiling," Nami observes walking in behind him. "Guess Pika-chan got you to open up."

"Pikachu!" I say happily. Apis suddenly picks me up and pulls me onto her lap, pressing my back against her chest like a stuffed animal. I look up at her to see her staring warily at the others. Guess I'm the only one who's earned her trust so far.

"Aw, looks like you've made a friend." Nami says with a smile. "Pika-chan seems to have that effect on everyone." She gives me a pat.

"Pika!" I say happily, hoping to get across that they weren't bad people.

"So...you're not gonna sell me off?" Apis asks shyly, nuzzling my head with her chin.

"No way!" Usopp says.

"You've kinda got a mean look, I see your point." Zoro comments.

"You're the expert on bad looks!" Usopp retorts, resulting in a small brawl. I laugh at their antics and Apis gently laughs with me, starting to warm up a bit more.

"Well, it's getting pretty late; who's up for dinner?" Sanji asks.

"Ooh! Me me me!" Luffy cheers.

"I hope you're still hungry, cause Sanji's cooking isn't something you want to pass up." Nami says.

 _'It's true.'_ I say, looking up at her.

Apis smiles and nods, "Okay! I'd love some!"

"Dinner for seven, coming up!" Sanji says, getting his instruments out and ready.

I look at Apis once more. _'Don't worry; on this ship, you'll have the time of your life.'_ Apis smiles and gives me a hug, and we all wait in anticipation for dinner to be ready.

* * *

Once dinner's finished, everyone's ready to head to bed. I decide to spend the night with Apis, and Sanji seems fine with it. After all, Apis would probably be lonely and we've really started to become friends. She falls asleep almost instantly, and I curl up beside her. I expected her to sleep well into the morning, but she woke up early, long before it was time to raise anchor. She gets up super quietly and tiptoes over to the kitchen.

 _'What are you doing?'_ I ask, sitting up and yawning.

Apis jumps and turns back to me. "You scared me!" She whispers.

I get off the bed and walk over to her. _'Need something?'_

"Uh no." Apis answers looking at the ground. "I was just...going to cook." she says softly.

 _'Cook?'_ I ask. _'What for? If you're hungry you can just ask Sanji-'_

"No, I mean, I want to make breakfast for everyone!" Apis says. "You guys have given me food and shelter and rescued me from the ocean, so...I want to help somehow."

I slowly smile at her, _'I see; then why don't you let me help?'_

Apis holds up her hands and shakes her head, "Oh no, you've been so nice to me, I don't want to trouble you." she says but I wave my paw.

 _'It's no trouble; I help Sanji cook all the time.'_ I say.

"Really?" Apis asks. I nod.

 _'Yeah; I think Sanji would appreciate not having to cook a mountain of pancakes for Luffy, so let's do it!'_ I say giving a determined look and leaping onto the counter. _'It won't be as good as Sanji's cooking, but let's give it a try!'_

"Yeah, let's do this!" Apis cheers softly and comes over to the counter.

 _'So, what do you want to make?'_ I ask.

Apis puts a finger on her chin, "Well, I would like to make Pork Buns, but those take way too long." She says. "How about those pancakes you talked about?"

I nod. _'Yeah! And maybe some eggs too!'_

"With bacon!" Apis adds excitedly. We give each other a high five, "Let's get cooking!" We cheer quietly.

We manage to gather all the ingredients we need without breaking anything but once the cooking starts, oh man… We decided to start with making the bacon and we barely managed to get it off the pan without it completely burning or bursting into flames.

 _'You've...never been in a kitchen before, have you?'_ I ask, after we get the semi-black bacon onto the plate.

Apis laughs nervously, "Well...we don't use this much cooking stuff on my island." she says.

 _'Well, good thing I'm here or the kitchen would probably blow up.'_ I joke.

We get started on the eggs and that goes a little better. They turn out a bit on the goopy side, but they still look edible; hell Luffy will eat anything so at least the food will get eaten no matter what. Not to mention Sanji's strict 'Don't waste food' policy.

Once those are done, Apis tries making a batch on her own, but with her own special touch. "Let's see if this will work." she says, putting a whole bunch of seasoning on.

 _'Mind if I try?'_ I ask.

"Sure!" Apis says and scoops a bit out onto the spatula.

I take a small nibble and my mouth feels like it will burst into flames. I run back and forth on the counter with sparks flying from my cheeks, my face red and my eyes watering. Apis jumps around, narrowly avoiding my lightning until I turn on the sink and start gulping down water. _'Spicy...'_ I manage, sticking my burned tongue out.

"Really?" Apis asks, and gives it a taste herself. Her face mirrors mine and she jumps towards the sink, sticking her face under the water. "I feel like my mouth's on fire!" she whines. "I must've used the wrong seasoning!"

I nod, _'Let's keep these eggs far from the others for now.'_ We put the spicy eggs in a small separate bowl and get to work on the pancakes. We got just about all the ingredients we needed and mixed them up. Working the griddle was hard, but with Apis helping, we soon had a tall stack of slightly burned but still edible pancakes all set. We got a whole bunch of flour and batter all over us, but it was worth it.

"We did it!" Apis cheered, giving me a hug and spinning me around. I have to admit, that was pretty fun. I guess after so many months of being just a helper to Sanji, it felt good to give equal effort on a meal.

We set the table, the one task we manage to do without trouble, and set the food on the table. We look at the messy counter; the whole thing is coated in flour sugar, and broken eggshells. I spy the bag of flour we used and go over to it. _'We better get this back to storage.'_ I say.

"Okay." Apis goes over and attempts to lift the giant sack.

My ears droop, _'Uh, are you sure you can carry that?'_ I ask uneasily.

"Don't worry," Apis grunts, slowly staggering towards the door. "I can do it!" The moment she says that, she slips on some flour on the ground. I run towards her to try and help, but only end up getting tangled with her. We burst through the door in an explosion of white dust, landing on the deck on top of the flour sack, completely covered in flour from head to toe.

"Hey; what's the trouble down there?" We look up to see Sanji looking down at us from the crow's nest. The sails are up and the anchor's in too. Wow, everyone woke up already? Looks like we finished just in time.

"No trouble, we've just been cooking!" Apis responds.

"Pika pika!" I confirm with a small wave.

Apis stands up, holding me in her arms and waves to the others. "Breakfast is ready everyone!" she calls, making flour fly everywhere with her gestures. Apis and I shake the flour off ourselves and file into the galley along with everyone else. They actually seem pretty impressed with what we accomplished.

"Wow, you made this all by yourself?" Nami asks.

"Well, Pika-chan helped a lot!" Apis says with a nod.

"Pi pikachu!" I say happily.

"I wanted to pay you back for all the help you've given me, so Pika-chan and I decided to make breakfast!"

Sanji reaches down and pets me, "I never pegged you for a chef Pika-chan." he says. I give him a look along with my smile; did you think I was helping you cook without paying attention?

"Awesome! Let's eat!" Luffy says. As to be expected, the food wasn't high quality. But no one was gagging or dying so I deemed it a success, and I think Apis did too. But then, a small familiar bowl of eggs made its way into circulation around the table.

"There are some more eggs if anyone wants any." Sanji says. Everyone takes a bite size portion and it finally hits us.

"No wait, it's really-" Apis is too late as everyone's faces turn red and they yell out in pain. "...spicy." Apis finishes. I rub the back of my head nervously as everyone gulps down their water. "Ehehe, sorry." Apis says sheepishly. "I was trying to make some on my own and used the wrong seasoning."

"Pika pi." _'We both learned that the hard way.'_

"Don't worry, that's a common mistake." Sanji says. "Next time you'll know what spices to avoid uh…" he trails off. "I don't think we ever got your name." Oh wow, I totally forgot that she only told her name to me!

"Oh, my name's Apis!" she says cheerfully.

Nami nods, "Well Apis, it was very thoughtful of you and Pika-chan to make breakfast for us."

Everyone nods their thanks and Apis blushes, "Oh, it was nothing really…" she says sheepishly.

"Pika pi."

"Thanks a lot for your help Pika-chan." she whispers to me.

 _'No problem.'_ I respond.

Once everyone's done, Sanji starts doing the dishes and Apis sits with me in her lap. "So, what's your story Apis?" Nami asks. "Why were you adrift at sea?"

"I escaped from a Marine ship that was holding me prisoner. I escaped three nights ago." Apis answers.

"That was during the storm…" Nami muses.

"How'd you get in trouble in the first place?" Zoro asks. "I know the Marines are twits but they must've held you prisoner for a reason."

"Well, um…" Apis trails off.

I look up at her. _'You okay?'_

"I'm not hiding anything, I swear." she says. "I just...can't talk about it."

"Why not?" Luffy asks.

"Easy, she must have her reasons." Sanji says, stepping up. "If she doesn't want to talk we shouldn't press her."

"Yes, I agree." Nami says kindly. I've never noticed earlier, but Sanji and Nami are really reminding me of parents. They way they treat Apis is eerily like a mom and dad would.

I flinch slightly as those figures appear in my mind again, but this time something happens. Two of the taller figures begin glowing with a faint aura, but I can't tell what it is before it vanishes again. Well, that was odd.

I look up and realize that Nami just asked where Apis is from. The answer: Warship Island. Nami pulls out a map and sees that it's close to the Grand Line. Well, that's lucky.

"The distance is reasonable; what do you think Apis?" Nami asks. "We can drop you off if you want."

I look up at Apis who looks at the ground. "I'm sorry, you've done so much for me so I'd feel bad if you went out of your way." she says. "But I really want to go home...maybe you could hand me off to another ship or-"

"Pika!" _'Absolutely not!'_ I say, tapping her arm firmly and shaking my head.

"Pika-chan's right." Nami says. "A pirate ship can't get close to another without risk of being attacked."

"Oh yeah…" Apis says in defeat, resting her chin on my head.

"But still, we're only on our own time table, so we can do it." Nami says. "What do you think, dear captain?"

"Sure, fine with me." Luffy says simply.

"Really?" Apis gets to her feet still holding me. "You don't mind taking me home?"

"Nope." Luffy says with a grin and Apis is ecstatic.

"Yes! Thank you thank you thank you!" she cheers. She turns me around and beams at me. "I'm going home Pika-chan! I can't believe I'm finally going home!" She pulls me close into a hug and starts spinning around happily. I laugh along with her until she has to stop before getting dizzy. It's really nice to see her so happy.

I wonder what kind of place Warship Island will be?

* * *

 **That cooking scene was WAAAAAY too fun to write! Apis is hands down one of the cutest creations in the whole OP universe! And thanks to her Whisper Whisper powers I can develop Pika-chan more! Yay!**

 **I'll admit, I was skeptical about if her powers would work on Pika-chan since she says I can read the minds of ANIMALS. But then I remembered that she can talk to a fucking dragon, which is a CREATURE/MONSTER not an animal. Plus, the power is READING MINDS, so I'm thinking as long as they're not human, the power flies. And that's my logic, ladies and gentleman X3**


	18. The Calm Belt

**Quick heads up, I'm gonna be gone and unable to update for about a week. I'll do my best to get back on this when I get back, but until then, hopefully this can tide you over.**

* * *

Once breakfast is cleared up, Apis and I go out to play on the main deck. There's not much to do, but it turns out chasing each other around can be pretty fun if you have enough enthusiasm. Apis leaps and tackles me, "Gotcha!" she exclaims. We both laugh as I lie on her chest.

"You two sure are getting along well." Sanji comments, grinning down at us from the galley door.

Apis sits up, holding me in her lap. "I guess we just kinda connect, you know?" she says a bit uneasily.

 _'You still don't want to tell them?'_ I ask.

"Not yet." Apis whispers back.

"Guys! We've got company!" Usopp yells from the crow's nest. "Just our luck; the Marines!" Marines? Oh great, just what we need. Nami comes out and looks out over the railing and we all quickly follow. Oh crap, we're really in trouble; it's not just one measly ship this time, it's a whole fleet!

Apis tenses and her grip around me tightens, causing me to look up at her. _'Apis?'_

"Are they here for my bounty?" Luffy asks.

"They wouldn't send this many just for you." Nami retorts.

"Well, maybe they felt like they needed more help." Luffy suggests. "I _am_ pretty amazing!" Geez, I didn't think Luffy was the type of guy who inflates his own ego. I wince as Apis tightens her hold on me more and takes a step back.

"What's wrong?" Sanji asks.

"Th-Those are Marines from Branch 8!" Apis exclaims. "They're the ones I escaped from!" She takes another step back, her breathing becoming frantic and scared. "W-What am I gonna do?"

 _'Apis, calm down.'_ I say gently.

"They're firing!" Usopp yells. There's a loud explosion as the water rocks around us. Sanji grabs Apis and I and holds us tightly, keeping us from falling over. Apis squeezes her eyes shut, hugging me close. I grip her dress, hoping it will help keep her calm while Sanji covers us as best he can.

"Attention pirates! You have trespassed onto restricted waters!" The head Marine yells. "We order you to stop your vessel immediately!" Yeah, like pirates would ever follow orders from the Marines!

"What do you wanna do?" Zoro asks Luffy. "I don't know about you, but I want to fight them."

Luffy nods, "Then we fight."

"Say what?" Usopp exclaims. "No way! Why must we always fight impossible odds?!"

"Apis," Sanji says. "Go downstairs and wait in the cabin."

Apis nods. "O-Okay."

Sanji looks at me. "Pika-chan, you stay with her and keep her safe, got it?"

I nod firmly. "Pika." _'You can count on me!'_ I turn to head towards the cabin when Apis suddenly stops. She glances behind us at a flock of seagulls, staring at them. That's right; the Whisper Whisper Fruit! _'What are they saying?'_ I ask.

"A wind is coming." Apis says softly. "He says it's a strong one."

Nami hears her and her eyes widen in surprise. "Zoro, lean the sail pointing south!" she says suddenly. "Usopp and Sanji, right rudder full!" The boys spring into action.

"What's happening?" Luffy asks.

"A gust is coming." Nami answers. "We'll ride it out and go from there."

Luffy mutters something about being scared to fight the Marines and Nami glances at Apis before running off to help with the ship.

 _'I think your secret might be out.'_ I comment, walking to stand beside her. Apis looks at me. _'These guys are smarter than they look; you can't keep a devil fruit power a secret forever you know.'_ Apis looks at the ground sadly.

 _'What are you so afraid of?'_ I ask. _'If you tell them they won't think any different of you.'_ Apis picks me up without answering and puts one hand on the railing just as a gust of wind sweeps overhead. The sails billow and the Merry speeds off. Whew! That really was a strong wind!

"It's working! The Marines are falling behind!" Usopp yells before laughing. "I've seen dead snails move faster!"

 _'Way to go, Apis!'_ I exclaim. Apis gives me a smile as we all let out a collective sigh of relief. Thank goodness Nami and Apis knew that wind was going to hit. Now it's nothing but peace and quiet once again. ...Actually...it feels a little...too quiet.

I squirm out of Apis' grasp and leap onto the side of the ship. I gaze out to sea and listen. Complete silence. Okay, this is weird; there's literally no noise at all. No wind, no seagulls, nothing! Not even the waves are making any noise! What the heck is this? I look over to see Zoro looking deep in thought. I trot over to him and leap up onto the railing next to him. "Pika pi?"

Zoro glances at me. "You feel it too, huh?" he says. I nod.

"Feel what?" Nami asks.

"This may sound crazy, but it feels like we're not even moving." Zoro answers.

"Pika." I agree with a nod.

Nami frowns slightly and looks around. "Now that you mention it…" she says slowly. "We're not catching any wind at all." She's silent again as she seems to be contemplating something.

I walk over to her and reach out to tap her arm. "Pika?" _'Nami?'_ The minute my paw brushes her arm she lets out a shriek. I jump and nearly topple off the railing but Zoro grabs my tail at the last second, pulling me back up.

"Nami, what's wrong?" Luffy asks.

"Are you hurt?" Sanji asks.

Nami simply stares ahead, her eyes wide with terror. "We're screwed!" she cries. "We've entered the Calm Belt!"

I tilt my head along with everyone else; Calm Belt?

"The Clam Belt?" Usopp asks.

"The _Calm_ Belt!" Nami repeats. "The part of the sea where nothing moves a muscle!"

"So there's mussels and clams?" Luffy asks.

"NO!"

The boat suddenly starts to shake slightly as the still waters become restless. My ears twitch and I glance around; I feel like something just moved but I can't tell, it's too big! I glance at Apis who looks uneasy as well. Does she feel it too? _'Can you feel anything Apis?'_ I ask. She gives me a look and a subtle shrug; so she doesn't know what it is either.

Nami looks like she's about to pull her hair out as Luffy and the others don't see the reason for her panic. She grumbles and rolls out a map. I leap onto Luffy's hat as she explains that the Grand Line is surrounded by the Calm Belt, where we are. Apparently in this place, wind doesn't blow and nothing moves, like a weird void of nothing. I can definitely see the issue here now; without wind, we're pretty much stuck until we can paddle out of here.

"So this is what the geezer meant when he said it was dangerous." Sanji mutters.

"Pika…" I agree. He did say that nothing expected happens on the ocean, especially near the Grand Line. I swear, sometimes I feel like this world intentionally creates places like this just to thin the world's population.

"Well, how can we get out if our ship can't move?" Usopp asks.

"Maybe the wind will start blowing again?" Luffy suggests.

Nami and I roll our eyes. "Wind never blows here!"

"Pika pikachu!"

"But that's not the only danger here!" Nami says just when the ship starts to rock.

"What's going on?!" Luffy yells.

"Oh no; they're coming!" Nami screams. I topple off Luffy as the ship raises into the air. We all gape in horror as hundreds of sea serpents rise out of the water, one them balancing our ship on his snout. "The Calm Belt is where the Sea Kings live and breed." Nami finishes weakly.

There's that name again, Seaking. I seriously feel like that's not the right name for them! I swear to Arceus, Seakings do _not_ look like this or are even this big! Screw it, I'm still calling them sea serpents. We all freeze as the sea serpents apparently haven't noticed us yet.

"Any ideas for how to get out of this?" Sanji asks softly.

"Yeah, don't move a muscle." Zoro answers. "Once they go away, we'll get out of here."

"You call that a plan!" Usopp yells.

"Shut up!" Nami hissed, covering his mouth. One of the creatures' eyes, a giant yellow frog looks up at us. Well, guess Zoro's plan has gone down the drain. The frog leaps up, making the serpent we're sitting on move and tilting the ship dangerously.

My eyes widen as Apis loses her footing and starts to fall. _'Apis!'_ I sprint towards her and grab the back of her dress. I try to hinge my tail onto the Merry's head, but we're falling too fast. My tail slips off and we both fall towards the frog.

"Apis!"

"Pika-chan!"

"Hold on!" Luffy yells and I hear his arm stretch. I feel his hand grab my tail and I tighten my grip on Apis. I grit my teeth as Luffy yanks us away from the frog and into the air, still holding us. I would probably be screaming in pain from my tail being yanked with the full weight of a child if I wasn't too scared to care!

"You're arm is stretching!" Apis exclaims. I grin and she looks up at me. "Does he have Devil Fruit Powers?"

 _'Yep; he ate the Gum Gum Fruit!'_ I answer. _'He's made of rubber!'_

"What?" Apis exclaims. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

 _'You never asked.'_

Apis suddenly looks down at the serpent holding our boat. "I have an idea; can you keep holding me?" she asks.

 _'I'll do my best.'_ I answer, tightening my grip on her dress. My tail is gonna be sore for a week after this...

"Hey! Swing your arm down again!" Apis yells to Luffy.

"Kay." Luffy answers and complies making us both shriek from the sudden change in direction.

"Luffy!" Usopp exclaims.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sanji demands.

"No idea." Luffy answers.

"Get ready!" Apis calls to me. I nod and keep holding on as tightly as I can as we swing towards the sea serpent's nose. "One...two…" We sail inside his nose and Apis grabs a large nose hair. "Now!" I squeeze my eyes shut and grit my teeth as Luffy yanks us back up, taking the nose hair Apis is holding with it.

Okay...I guess I've seen stranger plans.

Apis drops the hair and we sail back up towards the ship. I hear loud snuffles coming from the sea serpent. "It sounds like it's gonna…" Nami trails off.

"It sounds like it's gonna sneeze!" Sanji finishes. Oh, I get it now! Apis gives me a knowing grin. Luffy lets go of my tail once we're near the deck and I let go of Apis, my paws completely cramped. Apis flies into Zoro and I fly into Sanji who barely catches me. Apis gives me and Luffy a thumbs up and Luffy grins.

"Get ready! We're going for a ride!" Luffy warns. The serpent gives a loud sneeze and we all go flying. It's actually pretty fun, and after a few moments, we land back on regular ocean.

"Looks like we're back where we started." Nami says.

"Yeah, and no Marines either." Zoro adds.

 _'Good call Apis!'_ I comment, hanging on Sanji's arm.

"Thanks Pika-chan!" Apis says, giving me a thumbs up. I return it and grin before I realize that Sanji is glancing between me and Apis. Everyone else seems to have some kind of intrigue in their eyes as they all look at Apis. Apis realizes what she's done and her eyes widen, "Uh...um…" she stammers.

I sigh, _'Looks like the secret's out.'_ Apis rings her hands and I slip off Sanji to go towards her. _'Hey, it's okay you know.'_ I say, tugging on the end of her dress.

Apis stares at me and finally deflates in defeat. "You're right Pika-chan…"

"Whoa, how'd you do that?" Luffy asks. "You talked to Pika-chan; that's so cool!"

Apis looks at Luffy in astonishment and I smirk, _'Told you they wouldn't think any different of you.'_

"Could it be a Devil Fruit?" Nami asks, kneeling in front of Apis.

"Um, yeah…" Apis says shyly. "I ate the Whisper Whisper Fruit; I can read the minds of any animal or creature."

Nami nods, "So that's how you knew about that wind."

"That also explains how you got so close to Pika-chan after just a day." Sanji adds.

Apis nods and smiles as she picks me up. "Pika-chan was really kind to me; it said it would be okay to tell you about my powers, I guess I should've listened."

I wave my paw. _'Hey, no need to worry.'_ I reassure her.

"Don't worry." Nami says, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's totally normal to not tell anyone if you have Devil Fruit powers."

Apis lights up, "So...you're still gonna take me home?" she asks.

 _'Do you even need to ask?'_ I comment.

"Of course!" Luffy exclaims.

 _'Hopefully, we won't run into anymore sea serpents.'_ I say and Apis laughs.

"What did it say?" Luffy asks.

"It hopes that we won't run into anymore sea serpents." Apis translates. Oh man, does it feel good to not have to do charades!

"Oh, you mean Sea Kings." Nami says.

"Yeah, I could do without anymore monster encounters...forever." Usopp adds.

I roll my eyes. _'They're not called Seakings...'_ I mutter.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Apis asks.

 _'I swear, those serpents are not Seakings! Seakings don't look like that!'_

Apis tilts her head and looks thoughtful. "Well, I've never seen one up close until now so I'm not sure…"

"What is it?" Sanji asks.

"Pika-chan's annoyed that you keep calling those monsters Sea Kings." Apis says.

"Why's that? It's their official species." Nami says.

"Pika!" I shake my head firmly.

"It says that Sea Kings look nothing like those serpents." Apis translates. "They're not even that big." Arceus does this feel good!

"Are we seriously having an argument with a rodent about sea monsters?" Zoro sighs.

I growl at him, and Apis translates in kind. "It says watch it or I'll fry you like the bacon we made this morning."

Sanji snickers and Zoro glares at me. "Looking for a fight, pipsqueak?"

"Pikachu!"

"Bring it on you lazy Snorlax!" Apis translates and Zoro has nothing more to say. Wait a minute, a Snorlax? Where on earth did that word come from?

Sanji starts laughing as Zoro turns red with rage; looks like he's gonna hold that over Zoro's head for a good long while. "If only we could understand you more often!" he says, giving me a pat riddled with praise. I guess I should be proud of myself for schooling Zoro so fluently!

"Uh guys, may I remind you that those Marines could still come back and attack us?" Usopp asks.

Nami sighs, "He's right, we should get moving."

"Alright, finally!" Luffy cheers. "Set sail, for Warship Island!"

"Aye!" Everyone cheers. I smile up at Apis and climb onto her shoulder. We were gonna make it Warship Island in no time.

* * *

 **Oh Pokémon metaphors, you will never grow old! X3**

 **Sanji and Pika-chan are gonna have a blast in the future, bonding over their love of insulting Zoro XD**


	19. Grandpa Ryu

**I'm baaaaack! And while I'm here I'm gonna address something real quick that people have been asking about: (READ IT ALL!)**

 **People have been wondering if Pika-chan is going to evolve. To that I say that evolution IS DEFINITELY on my consideration list (along with Mega Evolution if I'm feeling flashy X3), I just don't know WHEN to do it. I'll say this now, it's NOT going to be during the time-skip cause I have that whole journey planned out already.**

 **I'm certain at some point, Pika-chan will eventually have a Thunderstone on hand to use in case of an emergency, and don't worry, unlike the anime, WE ARE GOING TO REMEMBER IT EXISTS! Honestly I think it will either end up depending on how the show ends up or up to you guys with whether or not Pika-chan evolves, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Just know that evolution is a most-likely thing. It all depends on the circumstances.**

 **One Piece is a long-ass series that's not even CLOSE to being done, so the opportunities and possibilities for evolution are pretty much endless. IF a time comes in the series where I deem Pika-chan worthy to evolve, I will do it. (Plus with all the shit Pika-chan's gonna go through, IF it evolved, it would be OP as fuck! X3)**

 **Thank you and enjoy!**

* * *

Arriving at Warship Island went pretty well considering the circumstances. The islanders were pretty wary of us at first but once Apis stepped in and put in a good word for us, the tension gradually dropped. It also helped that all Luffy was interested in was food. It's then that an old man stepped in who Apis seemed to recognize.

"Grandpa Bokuden!" Apis exclaims happily, running into his arms.

"I'm glad you're safe precious." Grandpa says happily before looking at us. "Thank you for saving my granddaughter, I'm in your debt." he says. He then offers for us to stay at his house and he'll even make us something to eat.

"Grandpa's Pork Buns are the best on the whole island!" Apis says happily as we make our way to the house.

Sounds like I'll finally have a chance to give them a try. _'Can't wait to try them!'_

Once we make it to the house, Grandpa gets to work on the Pork Buns, Sanji and I observing all the while. Judging by the smell and the amount of drool Luffy's producing, we'll definitely want to recreate these on the Merry. He puts the buns in a heated basket and closes the lid. "There, just a little longer now." he says.

"Oh boy, can't wait!" Luffy says, his voice growing with excitement.

"How long will we have to wait?" Sanji asks.

"Well, if I had to guess, I'd say no more than four or five hours."

...You've got to be kidding me.

"What?!" Luffy and Usopp exclaim.

"Come, we'll wait in the house. They'll be ready before you know it." Bokuden says. Luffy groans and we all follow him into the house. Apis sits on a box near the window holding me in her lap and everyone gets comfortable.

We all do our best to ignore Luffy's constant whining and Nami decides to break the ice. "Bokuden, do you know why the Marines are after Apis?" she asks. Good point; he's Apis' family, so he should know something.

"Hmm, do you know why, Apis?" Bokuden asks, looking at Apis.

"No sir." Apis says, shaking her head. Wait, what?

"Wait a minute, earlier you said you knew but didn't tell us!" Nami remarks.

"Oh, uh, I lied." Apis amends quickly.

I send her a small glare. _'Liar liar, pants on fire; that's a lie inside a lie!'_ I hiss causing her to shush me.

Bokuden shrugs, "Then I don't know why either." he says.

"You're kidding me!" Usopp exclaims, voicing my exact thoughts.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing significant about this island." Bokuden says. "Nothing except for an old legend." My ears perk up; that sounds like a clue. "Some say that our ancestors are descendants of people from Lost Island which sank into the sea years ago." Apis sighs and rests her chin on my head. "Lost Island is the home of the Millennial Dragons, and their bones are called Dragonite."

I flinch, knocking Apis' chin off my head. Dragonite? That word...yes, that definitely sounds familiar!

Dragonite...Dragonite...Dragon...Dragons...Dragonite...where have I heard it before? Ugh, it's on the tip of my tongue! I think hard, making those figures reappear again. Those two tall ones from before are still slightly glowing. I think the one I'm looking for is a big figure. But there are tons of big figures here!

Arceus, why can't I just remember?! Would it kill me to remember something?! C'mon brain, just one scrap of information won't kill me! C'mon, remember! Remember! _Remember!_

"Pika-chan?"

I flinch as I hear Apis. I'm holding my head in my paws and I'm really tense while everyone else is listening to Bokuden talk. Sanji and Apis are both looking at me, concern gracing their eyes. I glance up at Apis and shake my head. _'Sorry...I'm fine...'_ I say softly.

Sanji turns his attention back to Bokuden once he sees that I've calmed down. Apis gives me a skeptical look but doesn't press me. "Hey, let's get out of here." she whispers.

 _'Huh?'_

Apis silently slips off the box and lets go of me crouching to the floor. She motions for me to follow and we sneak out of the house. Once we successfully sneak out and pass the window Apis sighs in relief. "Once Grandpa starts that story he goes on forever." Apis says softly.

Oh wow, sounds like I dodged a bullet, or in this case, a super boring rambling session. _'Thanks for the save.'_ Apis grins and we start heading towards the kitchen. _'What are we doing here?'_ I ask. _'Is the food ready?'_

"You'll see." Apis says, taking a large bag out.

I watch as she empties the Pork Buns into the bag. _'What are you doing?'_ I ask. I'm really confused right now; explain please!

Apis turns and kneels in front of me so she's looking directly at me. "I wanna show you something." she says in a low whisper. "But you have to promise to not tell anybody."

I frown slightly. _'What is it?'_ I ask but Apis doesn't answer.

"I'm trusting you with this Pika-chan." Apis says. "Will you promise not to tell anyone?"

I'm silent for a few moments. Apis is dead serious. Well, she is my friend and she trusts me; and again, I won't be able to tell anyone even if I wanted to. I nod, _'Okay, I promise.'_

Apis smiles and picks me up into a hug again. This girl really loves to hug me. "You're the best, Pika-chan!" She puts me down and picks up the sack of Pork Buns, "Alright, follow me!" She takes a step and then freezes, her eyes wide with panic. I follow her gaze to see a sleepy Luffy dragging his feet towards the kitchen. "Oh no, he's coming!" Apis exclaims quietly.

She begins to panic but I grab the edge of her dress. _'Hold on.'_ I say knowingly. _'There's nothing to worry about, just stay still.'_ Apis does as I say, shivering all the while until Luffy collapses mid step, fast asleep. _'See? We're fine.'_ I say with a grin.

Apis deflates in relief and we walk past Luffy, Apis dragging the sack of food behind us. I follow her diligently as we crawl through some bushes and begin climbing a hidden trail up the mountain. _'Where are we going?'_ I ask, after we swing across a small cliff. Whatever Apis is trusting me with must be pretty big if she's hidden it all the way out here.

"We're going to meet a friend." Apis answers. I continue following her until we reach the top of the mountain, arriving at a cave. "Grandpa Ryu?" Apis calls, venturing inside the cave with the food.

Does someone live in here? Who on earth could live in a place like thi- WHAT IN THE NAME OF ARCEUS IS THAT?!

Apis is sitting right in front of...of...a dragon! A real freaking dragon! It's huge, light green and covered in feathers!

Apis pets it and smiles, "I'm back Grandpa Ryu." she says softly and cheerfully. "And I brought a new friend." She looks at me happily and I slowly make my way over to them. Once I'm close enough, Apis pets my head, "Pika-chan, this is Grandpa Ryu." she introduces. The dragon stares at me silently and I can't help but stare back.

"This is the one who took care of me." Apis says to the dragon. "I was picked up by a bunch of pirates but Pika-chan was the one who made me feel better."

"..."

"No, they were actually really nice; they were the ones who brought me back."

"…"

"Don't worry, I trust Pika-chan; it's been a really great friend and promised not to tell."

"..."

Apis nods and turns to me, "Grandpa Ryu says it's alright for you to be his friend." she says. "He can tell you have a good heart."

Uh, great I guess… I give the dragon-oh I'm sorry, Grandpa Ryu a friendly nod. But my mind is still swimming with questions! Most of them involving 'how' and 'why'!

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Apis brings the bag forward. "We brought you some of Grandpa Bokuden's Pork Buns!" I flinch as Grandpa Ryu opens his giant mouth and slurps down all the buns in one go. "Whoa, careful, you'll make yourself sick!" Apis exclaims, hiding a laugh. She looks at me and can tell that I'm still pretty numb with shock. "Hey, it's okay." Apis says with a smile. "Grandpa Ryu may be big and a bit senile, but he's really nice."

 _'If you say so...'_ I respond with wide eyes. I warily make my way towards him, not looking away from his giant eye, staring at me. I don't know why, but the more I stare at it, the more calm I feel. Grandpa Ryu seems to have this calm and wise aura about him, like a real grandfather. I slowly relax and approach him. He gazes at me, and I swear I can feel him give me a calm smile. My face becomes intrigued as his eyes seem to have some kind of air of loneliness, like someone who wants something that he lost desperately.

"You're not too far off…" Apis says softly, catching my attention. Right, Whisper Whisper Fruit. "Grandpa Ryu just wants to go home, to Lost Island."

My breath hitches, but I keep it soft. _'Didn't Lost Island sink?'_ I ask, recalling Bokuden's words.

Apis shakes her head, "Grandpa Ryu is certain that Lost Island will reappear any day now." she says. "He just...doesn't remember where it is."

My eyes widen and my ears perk up. _'Doesn't...remember…?'_

Apis nods, "I've been looking through all kinds of old texts and ancient records, but I can't find anything; the legend itself has no clues." She places a hand on Grandpa Ryu's snout, "So I decided to ask the Marines for help, but all they cared about was finding Dragonite. That's why they took me away."

My eyes widen at the word again. Dragonite. Arceus, this is driving me crazy! All these words are spinning around in my head and I can't make any sense of them!

Seaking, Snorlax, Dragonite, Arceus...argh, why can't I just remember! I want to remember! Please _just let me remember!_

"Pika-chan!" Apis exclaims and the next thing I know, I'm lifted into her arms in a gentle hug. "You're shaking again; are you sure you're okay?"

I let out a sigh, feeling a lump come to my throat. I just want to scream in frustration, still no sign of my memory. I feel Grandpa Ryu's gaze on me and I deflate in relief. _'No...I'm not okay.'_ I say sadly. I look at Grandpa Ryu with sympathetic eyes, _'I know how it feels to not remember where your home is.'_

Apis' eyes widen in understanding, "That's right, you have amnesia, right?." she asks. "Is that why you're so upset?"

 _'Something like that...'_

"Pika-chan?" My ears twitch as a familiar voice calls from the entrance of the cave. "Pika-chan? Apis? You in here?"

 _'Sanji?'_

Apis turns around, still holding me and her eyes widen in fear as Sanji and Luffy enter the cave. "Hey Apis! Where'd you hide all the pork buns?" Luffy calls.

Apis drops me and backs against Grandpa Ryu with her arms outstretched. "Stop!" she yells defiantly. "Don't come any closer!" But it's too late. Luffy's eyes widen and Sanji's cigarette hits the ground as they lay eyes on Grandpa Ryu. My ears wilt and I give an awkward wave.; this is gonna be awkward.

"Amazing!" Luffy gushes, running his hands over Grandpa Ryu much to Apis' dismay. "I can't believe this! This is awesome! This is so cool!" I laugh nervously at Luffy's actions while Apis tries to pry him off Grandpa Ryu.

Sanji on the other hand is still completely speechless. I walk towards him and tap his leg, making sure he's not about to pass out. "Pika-chan…?" he asks weakly. "Is that what I think it is?" I rub the back of my head and nod; guess my promise to Apis about keeping her secret is now null and void.

"Stop! Leave him alone!" Apis yells, pulling Luffy's vest as he's still cuddling the dragon. Grandpa Ryu must have a ton of patience and tolerance 'cause he isn't moving a muscle.

"Where on earth did you come from?" Luffy asks. Grandpa Ryu stares at Luffy and silence fills the air for a few moments. "Sure, I think I understand…" Luffy says slowly. "You want to go home, right?"

Whoa, how did he do that? "How did you do that?" Apis asks with wide eyes, voicing my curiosity. "How did you read Grandpa Ryu's mind like I did?"

Luffy shrugs, "I dunno, I just did."

"That's right, your Devil Fruit power lets you read the minds of animals and creatures." Sanji says, finally getting the courage to walk a bit closer.

Apis nods, "It was because of my powers that I met Grandpa Ryu." she says. I take a seat on Grandpa Ryu's head as Apis repeats when she told me to Luffy and Sanji and try to stay calm when she mentions Dragonite again. After listening more closely, I remember that Dragonite is the elixir of immortality; I know that's not the Dragonite I'm remembering, but it's definitely similar.

Once she's done, Sanji kneels down in front of her, "This is way too dangerous for a little girl like you, you know."

Apis looks at the ground sadly, "I know; that's why I've kept this a secret." she says. "But I have to get Grandpa Ryu back home no matter what; it's the only way he'll get his strength back.

I can tell that Grandpa Ryu is really touched by the risks Apis is taking for him; I know how that feels too. I have more in common with this dragon then I realized.

"Alright then," Luffy says suddenly. "We'll take him home!"

Say what?

Sanji gets to his feet. "Idiot, we can't take him home; Lost Island sank." he says.

"But this is a real Millennial Dragon!" Luffy argues. "If he exists, then Lost Island exists too!"

Sanji stretches Luffy's rubber cheek, "Are you deaf? I said the island sank! There's no way we can find it!"

"Exactly!" Luffy says. "So that's why we're gonna find it!"

Sanji sighs and shakes his head, "Well, once the captain makes up his mind, there's no stopping him." he mutters before smirking. "I'm in."

"Pika pikachu!" I exclaim, raising my paw. _'I'm in too!'_

"Really? You'll take him?" Apis asks.

"Of course!" Luffy says.

"Thank you!" Apis exclaims.

I jump onto her shoulder, _'Grandpa Ryu's in good hands.'_ I say.

* * *

I stay with Apis while Sanji and Luffy get the others up to the cave. Their reactions are about the same as Sanji's, only Usopp's jaw hits the floor and Nami nearly screams at the top of her lungs. Apis and I give a wave from Grandpa Ryu's back while Sanji and Luffy explain the situation.

"I-Is it safe around this thing? Is it gonna eat us?" Usopp manages to ask.

"Um, he usually doesn't eat people." Apis says, though she sounds pretty unsure. "But he is forgetful so if he starts acting like you're food, get away quick."

Her warning comes a bit late as Usopp's head is already in Grandpa Ryu's mouth. "Now you tell me!" he wails.

Luffy laughs, "I think he likes you!"

"That's easy for you to say!" Usopp snaps.

"Maybe we should just let him eat you." Zoro says casually.

"And give the poor thing food poisoning?" Sanji retorts. Ouch, low blows guys…

Apis manages to get Grandpa Ryu to let go and Usopp gets a good distance away. _'Senile dragons are a handful aren't they?'_ I comment sitting on top of Grandpa Ryu's head.

Apis laughs nervously, "Yeah, kinda…"

Anyway, as we all discuss the game plan it's pretty obvious this is going to be easier said than done. The Marines have already started to blockade the island and they're after us and Apis. Getting out of here with a giant dragon in tow, is going to be a mission in itself. Not to mention that we have absolutely no idea where we're supposed to be going.

"The dragon should have migratory instincts," Nami points out. "That should help us find it."

"But how are we supposed to get a giant dragon onto the Going Merry?" Usopp asks. Ah, the million dollar question. Anyone have an answer?

"Easy, we'll build a cart." Nami says. "One big enough for Grandpa Ryu." Alright, I can get behind that. Apis grins happily at me and we head out of the cave. We have our work cut out for us this time.

Building the cart didn't take long at all. We just had Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji get us the lumber we needed and we all pitched in building it under Usopp's instructions. In less than an hour, the cart was finished. Apis jumps on it happily, "It's so sturdy! Not even Grandpa Ryu could break it!"

That's Usopp for ya.

Now we just have to figure out how to get Grandpa Ryu to the Going Merry and get past the Marines. Zoro suggests an attack which I'm down for, but as Nami points out, that wouldn't really work with a giant dragon with us. We're gonna have to be stealthy here.

"One of us will have to get the harbor, sneak aboard the Going Merry and sail it to the rear of the island." Nami decides. Alright, that sounds like a good plan.

Usopp steps up, "Well, since my good friend Kaya gave us the ship, I should be the one to go." he announces. Wow, brave move Usopp. "However," he suddenly points at me. "Pika-chan is coming with me!"

I start and point to myself. "Pika?" _'Why me?'_

"Fine by me." Nami says. Wait-wha-but Nami!

"Pika-chan's pretty good at sneaking around; should work out just fine." Sanji adds. But-but-but-!

"Alright, we leave by nightfall!" Usopp says.

"No, now! We're running out of time!" Nami says. My ears wilt; does no one care what I have to say about this?

"Bring the ship to the edge of that cape." Nami says pointing. "The one that looks like your nose." I gaze at the cape and snicker while Luffy laughs. It really does look like his nose!

"Alright…" Usopp says unsurely, "But how are you gonna-"

"Leave that to me." Nami says. "In the meantime, you two get moving!"

"Pika!" I say with a nod.

"You know for a navigator you sure give a lot of orders!" Usopp complains.

Nami tells Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro to get Grandpa Ryu onto the cart and Usopp and I run towards the harbor.

* * *

 **Alright, time for a Pika-chan/Usopp stealth mission! I'm sure everything will end up perfectly FINE!**

 **I'll admit, right when the term Dragonite was said in the show, my head shot up and I was like 'Dragonite? Where? Where?' XD**


	20. Lost Island?

**This is a long one; brace yourselves! (College is starting soon for me so I want to tide you over as much as possible X3)**

* * *

Getting to the harbor was easy. Most of the Marines had gone straight to Bokuden's place leaving the rest to guard the ships. The hard part is going to be getting on the Merry without getting caught.

"This is exactly why I wanted to come at night!" Usopp moans as we peek out at the Merry. About four or five Marines have her surrounded and they're all armed. "Pika-chan, do you think you could shock those guys?" Usopp asks hopefully. "Preferably without making any noise?"

I look thoughtful; that...may actually work. There aren't that many of them, and if we keep it quiet we won't attract any more unwanted attention. The issue is that my lightning is known to cause quite a show; it would be better if it was cloudy or stormy so no one would think it weird that lightning was striking. But that gets me thinking; there's only four of these guys and they look pretty laid back...maybe I don't need to attack them directly.

"Pika." I say softly, warning him to get ready. We were gonna have to be quick here 'cause I have no idea how long this is gonna last. Taking a deep breath and charging my electricity, I zoom out towards the Marines.

"Pika-chan, what are you doing?" Usopp cries. I skid to a halt in front of the Marines who raise their rifles.

"What is that?"

"A rat?"

"I have no idea!"

I grin and sparks fly from my cheeks. Time to shake things up a bit! A wave of electricity pulsates from my cheeks and covers the Marines like a small tidal wave. The streams of electricity then wrap around them and pin their arms to their bodies making them cry out in pain. They drop their weapons and fall to the ground, bound and helpless from my electricity. That's what I call paralysis!

I hear Usopp give a relieved cheer and we easily board the Merry. "See ya suckers!" We raise the anchor, release the sails and the Merry speeds off, the Marines trying and failing to break free from my paralysis. Unfortunately we go a little too fast as a large Marine ship from the blockade is coming up fast!

Usopp screams, "No! We're gonna crash!"

"Pika pi!"

We rush to the tiller and pull it as hard as we can, bracing for impact. We're knocked to the ground as the Merry turns sharply, its side colliding with the Marine ship. Usopp and I spring back up, getting a firm hold back on the tiller. "Hold on! Don't let go!" Usopp yells.

"Pika pika!" I grunt, pushing with all my might. Being this small on a ship really is a hassle during times like this!

The Merry scrapes against the ship before taking off with the wind around the island. Loud alarms blare around us as the Marine ships hurry to begin following us, but we're all ready too far ahead. There's no way giant ships like them can catch up with a tiny fast ship like Merry!

Usopp and I look out from the railing as the blockade shrinks out of sight. Usopp sighs in relief before laughing triumphantly, "We did it! We made it through alive!"

"Pikachu!" I cheer, giving him a high five. Now we just have to get to the cap Nami specified and it would literally be smooth sailing from there! My ears then twitch and my eyes widen. "Pika?!" The ship from behind is catching up!

Usopp screams in alarm as the boat comes up alongside us. "Pika-chan! I'll man the rudder; you take the sails!" he says.

Wait what?! Me, take the sails?! How in the name of Arceus am I supposed to do that?! "Pika? Pika pika pi!" I yell, flailing desperately.

Usopp points to a rope, "Take that and pull it left or right to help us catch the wind better! Hurry!"

I hesitantly nod and we hurry to our positions. I take the rope between my teeth and yank it to the right as hard as I can. Unfortunately that makes the sails die down; we aren't catching the wind!

 _'Crap crap crap!'_

I quickly yank the rope to the left and the sails billow up again. I feel a sharp jerk as the wind tugs the Merry forward, leaving the Marine ship behind, but it's still gaining. "That's it Pika-chan! Keep that up!" Usopp yells.

Mental note: ask Usopp about how ships work.

"Man, that ship is as big as a whale, but it's fast!" I hear Usopp comment. I focus my attention back to the sails and keep an eye out to make sure we catch more strong winds. I'm nearly pulled off the ground as a real strong gust catches the sails, yanking us forward.

"Pika-chan! Tie off the rope and help me out here!" Usopp yells. I nod and tie off the rope as tightly as I can and run back to help man the tiller. Geez, sailing a ship is hard work! And that stupid ship is still catching up to us! Thankfully, the cape eventually comes into view so Usopp and I leave the tiller to keep us going straight.

"That's the cape right?" Usopp asks.

"Pi." I say with a nod, jumping onto his shoulder. That reminds me; how exactly is the cape going to get Grandpa Ryu onto the boat? I glance at the Marines who are pulling up alongside us and I growl, sparks flying from my cheeks. Looks like we may have to fight!

My ears twitch as I hear a low rumbling sound. This sound feels familiar...like something really big and ridiculous is heading our way…

"Pika?!" My jaw drops along with Usopp's as a familiar wooden cart carrying a dragon and five people zooms down towards the cape. The cart flies over the Marine ship, completely snapping the mast in half before skidding to a halt in the middle of the ocean. My shocked expression slowly melts into a smile; who knew that would actually work!

Usopp and I sigh in relief. "Better get over there." he says.

"Pika."

We steer the Merry over to the floating cart, leaving the stuck Marine ship behind and meet up with the others. I jump onto Sanji's shoulder once he boards giving a happy greeting when I notice that his jacket sleeve is slightly ripped. I climb down slightly and see a decent sized cut on his arm covered in dry blood. In fact, Luffy and Zoro have the same cut! And it looks like something smooth gave it to them, like a sword…

"Hey, it's nothing." Sanji reassures, giving me a pat. I give him a small frown but I decide to not press the issue; it doesn't look that bad; maybe one of those Marines just got a lucky shot in...three times.

While Usopp secures the cart to the Merry with rope, I jump down to Apis, who's still on the cart. _'Have a fun ride?'_ I ask.

"Sure did!" Apis said giving me a thumbs up. I climb onto Grandpa Ryu's head and give him a wide smile. He's gonna be home safely in no time!

"Alright! Set sail for Lost Island!" Luffy yells.

"And where's that?" Usopp asks flatly. We both sweatdrop as Luffy begins pointing in random directions. Usopp and I give each other a look. "He couldn't find his head if it wasn't screwed on…"

"Pika…" This is why we leave the navigating to Nami.

* * *

Well, soon enough we set sail, Grandpa Ryu floating gently behind us and going, well, in a random direction. We have no idea where we're going so hopefully going someplace random will help us jog Grandpa Ryu's memory. Luffy stays down with him for a majority of the ride. Luckily we don't have to watch him to make sure he doesn't fall in the water cause Grandpa Ryu is more capable than he seems, especially with his tail. He can just pluck Luffy out of the water if he falls in.

When lunchtime rolls around, Sanji, Apis, and I all decide to make some white rice, for all of us and for Grandpa Ryu. Sanji figured that something simple and nutritional would be good for an old dragon and Apis agreed. Once it's done, Apis volunteers to bring the pot out to everyone.

Sanji gives her a thick potholder to hold the pot with. "Careful, it's right out of the pot." he warns.

"Got it!" Apis chirps and slowly makes her way out and towards the back of the ship, Sanji and I following. "I hope you're all hungry!" Apis calls as we approach the rest of the crew. Apis holds the pot up above the railing for Grandpa Ryu to see. "Lunchtime Grandpa Ryu!" she calls.

"Alright! Food!" Luffy cheers and his arms reach towards the pot. Oh no…

"Pika pika!" _'Luffy, don't touch that-'_

Luffy grabs the handle and yanks it into the air before crying out in pain and letting go, his hands red and steaming. Everyone's eyes widen as the pot of rice flies down towards the raft.

"YOU MORON!" Sanji yells.

Oh Arceus...rest in peace Luffy, you will always be remembered.

The pot flies down and lands right on Grandpa Ryu's head. His eyes fly open and his wings expand suddenly, making feathers fly everywhere. Apis slides down the rope onto the raft and runs towards him. "Grandpa Ryu! Are you okay?!" she exclaims.

She helps get the hot rice off his head but then stares at the dragon. He must be saying something. Apis stares out to sea and I quickly climb down the rope towards her. _'Did he say something?'_ I ask.

She looks down at me with wide eyes. "I know where Lost Island is…" she says softly.

My eyes widen. _'You do?!'_

"Really?" Luffy asks, having heard her as well.

"The Dragon's Nest is just East of Warship Island." Apis says with a nod.

I step up excitedly, _'You mean…?'_

Apis nods and picks me up, holding me high, "Grandpa Ryu just remembered!" she exclaims with a big smile. I cheer happily and laugh with her, catching the other's attention.

"That's great!" Luffy cheers. "We know where it is guys!" He calls to the others. "Lost Island is to the East of Warship Island!"

Nami and Usopp quickly take the helm and steer the ship towards the East. A long while later, we're still sailing East, but there's still no sign of the island. I sit with Luffy on the Merry's head, sitting on his lap. Sanji got Zoro to help him with the dishes and Apis is having some alone time with Grandpa Ryu so Luffy let me sit with him on his 'special seat' as he calls it.

"So, Lost Island is somewhere this way." Luffy says suddenly, making me look up at him. "I wonder what it'll look like?"

I gotta wonder, do they even realize that they're talking to me? It just feels like whenever I'm around they can talk to themselves without looking crazy since I'm here to listen.

"Pika." I say, returning my gaze to the ocean ahead. I didn't sign up to be this ship's therapist, but I guess I have to play my part on this ship somehow. After all, I'm too small to have my own job; I'm just a helper. And who knows? Maybe I'll pick up some interesting conversations if this keeps up.

After a while, something appears in the distance. Luffy leans forward, "What is that?" he asks. "Smoke?"

"Pika." I answer with a shrug. It certainly looks like smoke; it's big and black and tall, almost like a shadow of some kind.

Luffy sighs, "Ah well, guess we'll just have to get closer." We do just that and eventually the shadow makes itself known. It's big and wide and looks just like a ship? "What's that?" Luffy wonders as it gets closer to us. He reaches out with his leg and taps the shadow with his foot, making ripples appear in front of us. The shadow suddenly clears like a clear pond revealing a reflection of Luffy, myself, and the Merry.

The ripples continue as we begin entering the reflection like a mirror. _'What the…?'_ My eyes widen as my mind goes blank for a moment. I see brief flashes of something big, but the flashes are so short that I can't even make out what I'm seeing. I can't tell if it's a person, a place, an object, or what.

We pass through the mirror fully only to emerge inside a thick wall of fog and the flashes stop. I blink and bring myself back to reality. What the heck was that about? I'm really getting tired of my mind giving me hints about my past and not telling me directly! It's almost like it doesn't want me to remember! Or it's just as confused about my memories as I am. Either of those sounds plausible.

"Can someone please explain to me what just happened?" Usopp demands. "The ship was in front of us but then we passed through it; almost like...well, a mirage or something!"

"That's it!" Nami exclaims. "When warm air collides with cooler air near the ocean it can create mirages!"

Well that explains that I guess...but what do mirages have to do with that weird flash in my mind I just saw? ...Guess I'll just have to tuck that flash away with those other figures and pray that they'll get filled in eventually. First Dragonite and now a mirage barrier thing. If this keeps happening this frequently, I'm pretty sure I'll go insane.

After a few moments the fog clears almost instantly, but the sky becomes dangerously dark. Nami groans in frustration as a downpour hits us like a slap to the face before the ship begins to rock. Luffy and I are thrown off the head of the Merry as a storm hits us at full force. The wind howls and the waves are gigantic. The others spring into action to man the ship and I cling to Luffy's shoulder as he watches the path ahead.

"It's almost like the ocean's trying to push us away from something." Luffy comments.

I give a nod when my fur stands on end. My eyes widen at the feeling; lightning is on the way, and a lot of it. And it's gonna strike...the back of the ship! I glance back and see Apis and Zoro trying to hold the loosening ropes keeping Grandpa Ryu attached to the ship.

I leap off Luffy and zoom towards the back of the ship; it's gonna hit! _'Apis! Zoro! Look out!'_ I yell.

Apis glances at me in confusion but I keep running towards them. It's too late for them to move! I take a flying leap and a lightning bolt strikes me just as I'm over my friends.

"What the-" Zoro looks up at me.

"Pika-chan!" Apis cries.

I absorb the lightning and land, keeping a sharp eye out for more stray bolts. Unfortunately for me, they're everywhere! The ship's right in the middle of a barrage of stray lightning bolts! In fact, one's coming right now! Near Nami and Sanji!

I bolt over to them and leap into the air again, making it just as the lightning strikes. I absorb the lightning and land, feeling a bit shaky on my feet. Two lightning bolts in a row and tons more are coming! If one of them hits the ship there's no telling what could happen!

I sense one coming near the sails; that's a _big_ no-no! I quickly move towards the head and raise my tail, drawing the lightning towards me. It narrowly brushes the sails and is absorbed into me.

Luffy runs to help Zoro and Apis keep Grandpa Ryu connected to the ship and I run to the upper deck to catch another lightning bolt. I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed. Electricity may be my essence but I have limits! I'm a mouse for crying out loud! I catch another bolt that was dangerously close to Usopp and begin to breathe heavily. I hope we can find this island soon or I may explode! This is a ton of lightning even for me! Sparks are flying from my cheeks and I'm not making them do it!

"Nami! There's a light up ahead!" Sanji yells.

"And there's an island underneath it!" Usopp adds.

Nami glances at me and nods, "Then that's where we're going! Move it!"

I pant a few times before zooming to the back of the ship, drawing a bolt away from Grandpa Ryu. "Pika-chan!" Apis yells.

 _'I'm okay!'_ I respond. _'I have to keep the ship safe! We have to get Grandpa Ryu home!'_ I zoom back to the front of the ship and catch another bolt before immediately drawing another away from the main mast. I have to do what I can to protect everyone! I can't do anything else so I can at least do this!

At long last, we reach the light and the storm ceases almost instantly. My instincts finally calm down and I collapse onto my side, feeling my whole body heat up. I feel light headed and full of energy and not the kind that makes me hyper; it almost feels like I'm oozing the extra lightning I can't hold.

"Pika-chan?" I see Sanji above me as well as everyone else in my blurring vision. Sanji moves to pick me up but I quickly get up and move away from him.

"Pika!" _'Don't touch me!'_ I exclaim. _'I don't want to shock you!'_

"Pika-chan, what is it?" Sanji asks moving towards me again, but Apis grabs his arm.

"It's saying not to touch it; it might shock you!" she translates.

I look around desperately; I have to release this lightning somehow. I can't release it here, especially with Apis around, I don't want to hurt her. I finally glance at the ocean and an idea pops into my head.

 _'Be right back.'_ I say to Apis and I quickly jump into the ocean. I go under and paddle a few yards away from the ship. I close my eyes and let loose. I feel the ocean practically explode with electricity and I feel the lightheadedness go away almost instantly. I open my eyes and swim back to the surface with a sigh of relief.

Note to self: if you've absorbed too much lightning, find a safe spot to release all excess electricity.

I paddle back to the ship and Luffy stretches down to help me onboard again. "Pika-chan, are you okay?" Sanji asks. "What was all that?"

"Pika pika, pikachu." I answer.

Apis smiles in understanding, "Oh, I see!" she turns to the others. "It said that all the lightning was a bit much so it went into the ocean to get rid of all the extra lightning." Thank you Apis, my personal translator!

Nami pales immensely, "That was all lightning from the storm?" she asks weakly.

"Oh man, we would've been goners if one of those hit us!" Usopp says frantically. Yeah, I know; you're welcome.

Now that that's settled and out of the way, it looks like we made it to the island. "An island hidden by a mirage and surrounded by a storm; no wonder no one's found it." Nami comments. "But it's not lost anymore."

"It looks more like a castle than an island." Luffy observes. He's right; there are a bunch of stone structures everywhere that are cracked and broken. It looks like a bunch of old ruins are around here. Did humans build these? If so, when and how? Did humans and dragons live together?

We land and get Grandpa Ryu onto land where Apis tries to get some info out of him. Unfortunately, not only is Grandpa Ryu acting tired and senile again, he told Apis that this might not even be where the Dragon's Nest is. Are you telling me I absorbed all that lightning for nothing?! That hurt you know! C'mon Grandpa, give us a clue here! Luffy suggests heading to the top of the island to get a better view, which sounds like a good idea to me. The boys all pull/push Grandpa Ryu on the cart while Nami and Apis walk ahead. I decide to hitch a ride with Grandpa Ryu and keep him company. "It's not fair! Nami should be back here pushing with us!" Usopp whines.

"Less chatter and more dragon-hauling!" Nami calls.

"That's easy for you to say!" Usopp retorts.

"Just shut up and push!" Sanji snaps before hearts appear in his eyes again. "Nami's so gorgeous when she's ordering us around!"

I growl and send a small shock his way. Time and place Sanji, for Arceus' sake!

Eventually, we reach an old broken down city. Well, this is something I wasn't expecting on an island that's supposed to house dragons. "Did people really use to live here?" Luffy asks.

"Of course, who else could have built all these houses?" Zoro responds.

"Then why did they leave and where did they go?" Usopp asks.

"Who knows, maybe they just moved to a better island." Sanji answers. Apis finds a few birds and they tell her that there's a giant temple with a big dragon emblem on it. Well if that doesn't sound like a place where dragons go, I don't know what does. We change course and we eventually reach the designated building, and sure enough, a large dragon symbol is painted on the front.

"Please tell me we don't have to push anymore." Usopp groans.

I jump onto Sanji's shoulder and gaze down at the shore with him. The Merry looks like a toy from all the way up here. "We traveled a lot farther than I thought." Sanji comments.

"Pika." I agree.

"So this is the dragon emblem…" Nami says thoughtfully, gazing at the painting.

"Wait, this little building is the Dragon's Nest?" Sanji asks. Now that he mentions it, it does look pretty small. I expected a giant cave or mountain crawling with dragons; could creatures as big as Grandpa Ryu really live here?

"This is it?" Usopp asks, sounding almost as disappointed as me.

"Even if it is, where's the door?" Zoro adds.

Apis stares at the door and walks towards it, her hand gripping her pendant. She's looking at a piece of the painting where the dragon's claw is supposed to be. It's missing, and Apis is wearing a dragon claw from Grandpa Ryu! Maybe this is why he gave that to her! Apis nods at us and takes off her necklace. She reaches up towards the hole but stops a few inches from it because, well…

"I can't reach it!" Apis whines with teary eyes.

Luffy laughs and walks up, "Here, I'll do it." he offers, taking the pendant. He reaches out to place it inside when we hear rumbling. The ground shifts and suddenly gives way beneath us, including Grandpa Ryu. The next thing I know, we're falling through darkness. I feel Sanji grab me and pull me close before we finally hit the ground.

I lie on Sanji's chest as everyone groans in pain from the fall. "Uh guys, we're still alive right?" Usopp asks weakly.

"Feels like it." Zoro answers.

"Who was it that claimed to have a key to the door again?" Sanji asks sarcastically.

Apis laughs nervously and Luffy hands the claw back to her. We all get to our feet; looks like none of us are hurt too badly. "Well, at least we made it in." Nami says.

"Yeah, it all worked out!" Apis says happily.

"But what is this place?" Zoro asks.

"Hey, look up there." Luffy says pointing. We all gaze up and see a giant painting depicting a bunch of symbols and drawings. I jump onto Sanji's shoulder to get a better look. "It's huge!" Luffy exclaims. "Wonder what it's of?"

"Looks like a map to me." Usopp says.

"Maybe but it's so worn out that it's hard to tell." Sanji says.

"Do you know, Apis?" Luffy asks.

Apis shakes her head. "No; Grandpa Ryu doesn't know either."

Usopp sighs, "Man, are all Millennial Dragons as useless as he is?"

"Take that back!" Apis snaps.

 _'He's right you know, Apis.'_ I call out.

"Wha- Pika-chan, how could you?!" Apis whines.

 _'I'm only telling the truth.'_ I respond. I really am getting annoyed with Grandpa Ryu's senile old mind. Is he even trying to remember? 'Cause it sure doesn't look like it! ...Now that I think about it, I'm starting to sound like a real hypocrite…

"Hey, a piece of the ceiling fell here." Luffy says, looking at a giant piece of stone with a dragon painted on it.

"This whole place is falling apart." Usopp says. "Maybe we should get out of here before we're crushed."

"No way!" Apis exclaims angrily. "This might be the Dragon's Nest!"

Usopp glares at her. "I don't see any dragons, do you?" he retorts.

"Hold on!" Nami exclaims.

"What is it, Nami dear?" Sanji asks.

"I don't think this is Lost Island." Nami says after a moment's hesitation. What? How can this not be Lost Island? What other island would be hidden by a mirage and freaking storm?

"What makes you say that?" Luffy asks.

"Look closely at the painting," Nami says, pointing back at the ceiling. "Usopp was right, it is a map...and it leads to the location of Lost Island." We listen as she explains that the island we're on now is the place where Apis' ancestors lived and worshiped the dragons as gods. They probably built all those broken dragon statues to honor them as they flew over the island. That makes sense; Grandpa Bokuden did say that their descendants came from Lost Island. Nami also figures out that the Dragon's Nest is really somewhere on Warship Island...but how is that possible?

"Wait, if the real Lost Island is on Warship Island wouldn't someone have found it already?" Usopp asks.

Nami shrugs, "I don't know, that's just what the map says." she looks thoughtful, "But there is still the chance that it sank...and if that map is right, I bet that's exactly what happened."

I glance at Apis who's looking more horrified by the second. She runs over to Grandpa Ryu, "Grandpa Ryu, please think back and try to remember!" she cries. "The Dragon's Nest isn't here! Our only hope is that you remember! Please Grandpa Ryu, try to remember!"

I can't help but frown at her words. I sounded just like that when I heard the word Dragonite, in my head at least. I can't help but wonder, what if I end up in the same position as Grandpa Ryu? What if one day, all our hopes rest on me remembering who I am? Would that help me remember...or would the pressure be too much for me? Well, hopefully that won't ever come to pass...I just hope my memories come back at a convenient time and doesn't end up putting my crewmates in danger.

"Grandpa?" I'm snapped out of my thoughts at Apis' voice. She's staring at Grandpa Ryu who's eyes look wide and alert, more alert than I've ever seen him.

Luffy nods, "So the Dragon's Nest really is on Warship Island."

Whoa, he did it again! "How did you know what he said?" Apis asks.

Luffy shrugs, "Dunno; just did." Oh no, that answer isn't gonna fly a second time mister! Why are you so hard to figure out?

"Grandpa Ryu said he just remembered." Apis says. "He says the Dragon's Nest is located east of a peak that looks like a Warship." So, we had the basic direction down, we just went too far, is that it? A few more details next time would be nice Grandpa!

"I'm sorry…" Apis says suddenly. "I'm sorry for dragging you all the way out here for a place that's probably sunk; it was all for nothing!"

Apis…

"I wouldn't say that." Usopp says. "Who knows? Maybe the nest is somewhere else on Warship Island; we won't know unless we look for it."

"He's right," Nami agrees. "Plus, giving up easily just isn't like you Apis."

"If you fall down in life, you just have to get back up." Sanji says.

Zoro nods, "You should never give up hope, kid."

"Pika pikachu!" _'You should always see things through to the end, no matter what!'_

"Pika-chan…" Apis says softly.

"So, let's go!" Luffy says. "You want Grandpa Ryu to get better, don't you?"

Apis slowly smiles and nods, "Yeah; thank you." she says. However, the happy moment is shattered when Zoro suddenly frowns and grips one of his swords.

"What's wrong?" Nami asks. "Someone's here." Zoro answers. We all look up as a man appears above us, wearing a suit with weird swirly purple hair and a weird visor thing over his eyes.

"Thank you for deciphering the map for me." he says with a chuckle. "Now I can find the Dragonite and the nest."

"It's the sicko guy!" Luffy exclaims. That name sounds surprisingly accurate judging by this guy's appearance.

"But if the nest is at the bottom of the ocean, I suppose I'll to take your Millennial Dragon instead." Sicko continues. Oh, is that all? Not happening buddy!

"No! You stay away from him!" Apis yells.

"Let us handle him." Sanji says. "He has Sickle Sickle Fruit powers." Devil Fruit powers? Oh that's just great… And judging by the name, I bet this is the guy who gave Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji those cuts.

Zoro steps up, "Luffy, you go ahead and get Grandpa Ryu to the ship." he says. "I'll catch up with you later."

Luffy grins, "Gotcha."

Usopp starts. "Huh? But how are we supposed to get out of here?" he asks.

"Easy; I'll make a way out!" Luffy says before taking off. Before we can say anything, Luffy smashes into the wall and bounces off not leaving a dent. We all stare at him as he gets up like nothing happened, "Huh...guess I should've thought that one through first." he comments.

"You think?" We all respond flatly.

"Pika…" I shake my head and jump off Sanji's shoulder, trotting to the far side of the room. If you wanna do something, do it right. I ready myself and charge up my energy; I hope I have enough or this is really gonna hurt both my skull and my pride. I take off towards the wall and pick up my speed as much as I can and white energy surrounds me. I brace myself and smash into the wall.

Luckily, it's so thick that even though I make a hole, I drop to the ground right in front of it. But that definitely still hurt. I whine, rubbing my head as I sit up and I feel Sanji pick me up. "I don't think you really thought that through either partner." he comments.

"Pika…" _'Shut up...at least I made a way out.'_

Sicko jumps down towards us but Zoro's there to stop him. For some reason, while Zoro's blocking Sicko's moves and keeping him away from Grandpa Ryu, Luffy's just...sitting there.

"Luffy! Quit gawking and go already!" Zoro yells.

"Oh right." Luffy says. We all jump onto the cart, Luffy grabs the rope and we take off at top speed. The cart flies out and lands on a giant root and begins sliding on it like a railing. "Yeah! This is fun!" Luffy cheers.

I latch onto Grandpa Ryu's feathers will four of my paws, this is way too high and way too fast for any kind of enjoyment! We slide down off the root and onto the solid ground, but we're still not slowing down.

"We usually come out alive of things like this right?" Usopp cries.

"Yeah but I hope this isn't when our luck runs out!" Nami responds. I squeeze my eyes shut as the cart jumps and rocks around from going down a hill into the old city. Good Arceus, this is too nerve wracking! I keep thinking the whole cart is gonna flip over at any second! The cart zooms down the road and seems to get faster with every second.

"Well guys, I think we can safely say that we are now the fastest moving thing in this world!" Usopp yells.

"Yeah but if this keeps up we won't live to tell it!" Sanji responds.

"Luffy! Do something!" Nami yells.

"Don't worry, we're fine!" Luffy says casually.

"HOW ARE WE FINE?!" Nami screeches.

"Luffy! Up ahead!" Apis yells, pointing. My peek over Grandpa Ryu and my eyes widen; a tunnel is coming right up!

"That doesn't look good!" Luffy says. I tighten my grip and close my eyes, bracing for impact. We shoot through the tunnel and out the other end, dropping to the lower level of the city. I swear, the ground is starting to get more rocky as the cart is rocking all over the place.

"We're heading right for the city's walls!" Apis yells.

"Well then, let's bust through!" Luffy yells.

"No!" Nami yells. "There's a cliff behind that wall! If we crash through we'll fall!"

"Pika?! Pika pi?!" _'What do we do now?!'_

"Well...we can fly?" Luffy tries.

"YOU MORON!"

"PIKA PI!"

The cart suddenly hits a bump and swerves dangerously, one of the wheels having broken off. It catches me so off guard that I loose my grip and Grandpa Ryu and go flying. I scream as I tumble through the air when Sanji reaches out and grabs me. I give him a small smile as thanks as he holds me close and the cart runs along the wall down the proper path.

Now running down the path backwards, the Merry quickly comes into view. "We're still alive!" Nami says in disbelief.

"And we managed to stay on this cart without getting thrown off!" Usopp adds. At that moment, the cart hits a boulder, and everyone except Luffy and Apis go flying off into the ocean.

Karma, you jerk…

"Ha! Told you we'd make it!" Luffy cheers before turning to us. "Hey quit laying around!"

"Oh please…" Nami says.

"He's dead…" Sanji growls.

"Pika…" I growl, practically hanging off Sanji's head. _'He is SO getting an iron tail to the face!'_

We reconnect Grandpa Ryu to the ship and a few birds land in front of Apis. After a few moments her eyes widen, "Luffy! The birds told me that Zoro is in big trouble! We have to help him!"

Luffy says nothing and we all get on the boat. "Where is he?" he asks. "Can you see him?"

Usopp pulls down his scope and looks closely. "Right there, above us!" he says pointing.

"Got it! I see him!" Luffy says. He takes a deep breath and draws back his arm. "ZOOOOROOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I cringe and cover my ears as Luffy's arm stretches all the way up to the top of the island and grabs the back of Zoro's shirt. "Bingo!" A few seconds later, Zoro comes flying through the air towards the ship and crashes right into Luffy.

"Oops! Sorry about that!" Luffy chirps.

"Do that again and I'll cut you into pieces…" Zoro mutters.

I can't help but snicker and we turn the Merry around. Back to Warship Island we go!

* * *

 **Congratulations! Your Pika-chan remembered Thunder Wave and learned how to steer a ship! (Please don't kill me cause I have NO IDEA how sailboats like the Merry work X3)**

 **When I first saw Thunder Wave in the anime I thought it looked pretty cool! It actually looks more threatening when the lightning literally ties you up!**

 **Also, please tell me I'm not the only one who realized that ALL the Straw Hats know how to steer the Merry but we NEVER SEE THEM LEARN HOW?! Seriously, is everyone just born with the ability to steer a pirate ship? (that actually would make sense considering the world they live in)**


	21. Battle of Dragons

Thankfully getting out of the mirage was ten times easier on the way out. We were fast enough that we didn't have to worry about getting hit by lightning. Thank Arceus, I never want to go through that again! We easily pass by the Marines that were waiting for us outside the barrier and speed ahead of them. But when it looks like smooth sailing, a giant Marine ship appears in front of us with a giant face on it.

"Whoa! It's a gargoyle!" Luffy exclaims excitedly.

I have to admit, that is one weird looking ship. Well, at least it's just one, maybe we can take it down easily. My words are counteracted as tons of other Marines ships appear on both sides of the big one. My ears droop and my jaw drops; how in the hell are we supposed to get past all those?!

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Sanji exclaims.

"Did they send every damn ship in the fleet after us?" Zoro demands. The ships completely surround us and link themselves together with chains, creating a wall around us. Great, just great.

"What do we do now?" Apis cries.

"We get onto the ships, fight off all the Marines and break the links." Usopp answers.

"Wow! Are you really gonna do that?" Apis asks.

Usopp hesitates. "Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, take them down!" he says. I roll my eyes and face the ships.

"That's not a bad idea." Zoro says, beginning to unsheathe his sword.

"Are you serious?" Apis asks.

"Don't worry, it'll work out." Nami reassures her. "Just promise you'll make this raid quick, alright?"

"With all my heart." Sanji answers.

"Pikachu!" I say with a nod before looking at Apis. _'Don't worry, we'll be fine. I promise.'_ Apis stares at me before smiling and nodding firmly.

We zoom towards the ships, cannons firing at us from all around. Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and I all stand at the head of the Merry in case we need to attack. The waters get pretty rocky from all the cannonballs but Luffy's laughing like he's on a roller coaster. One cannonball gets pretty close but Luffy runs to take care of it. "Gum Gum...Balloon!" He inflates himself slightly and bounces the cannonball back to where it came. Oh hey! We hit one! One down, fifty to go!

Unfortunately, the big ship gets a giant cannon ready and aims it right at us. "Quick! I'll turn the ship around and you guys work the rear sail!" Nami yells.

The boys spring into action except Usopp, who's at the cannon. "You like shooting cannons?" He mutters. "Well I've got a shot for ya!" The ship turns and Usopp ignites the cannon. I watch as the cannonball goes right into the large cannon and an explosion comes from inside the machine.

Holy crap...he stopped it! He actually stopped it! I cheer on the railing and Usopp grins. "How'd that medicine go down for ya?!" he taunts. "That's what happens when you get served a helping of Usopp Payback!"

"Pika! Pikachu!"

Apis gives him a thumbs up and Nami approaches us. "This is our chance!" she says. "If we act now we can clear a path and get out of here!"

Luffy nods, "Leave it to me!" Luffy stretches his arm, creating a kind of bridge for Zoro, Sanji and I to run across. Once we're safely on the boat Luffy springs over and lands right on Zoro. I swear, the man must have a 'Luffy magnet' on him or something.

We go over to the rows of chains and Zoro looks at them. "Chains of steel, huh?"

"Can you cut them?" Luffy asks.

"There's nothing I can't cut." Zoro answers.

My ears twitch and Sanji and I turn just in time to see a bunch of Marines arrive on deck surrounding us. "This is overkill." Sanji sighs.

"I'll take the right side, and you take the left." Luffy says to Sanji. "Pika-chan; you get anyone we miss."

"Whatever." Sanji says.

I frown, "Pikaaaa?" _'Why do I get the stragglers?'_ The Marines charge and we spring into action. My tail becomes iron and I easily down any Marines that approach me. I zoom around, going for the feet and the legs since I'm so small. Zoro begins cutting the chains but a bunch more Marines board the ship we're on by running across the chains on the other side of the ship.

"Pika-chan!" I hear Luffy call me. I turn to him and he grins. "Gimme some lightning!" I grin and latch onto the back of his vest. "Gum Gum...Gatling!" I release my electricity and hundreds of lightning rubber fists punch the Marines out of the way.

After a while, Luffy manages to sling the rest of the Marines off the boat and Zoro only has one chain left to cut. Soon we'll be home free! We all freeze as a wind suddenly cuts through the air, dangerously close to the Merry. Everything seems to come to a halt as a lifeboat approaches Grandpa Ryu's raft where Apis is standing.

"It's him." Sanji mutters. It's Sicko! We watch as he reattaches Grandpa Ryu's raft to his lifeboat.

"Looks like he's taking Grandpa Ryu and using Apis as a hostage." Zoro observes.

"Oh no he's not!" Luffy says and steps up but Zoro stops him. "If you try anything he might kill Apis and the others with that Wind Slash move." he says.

I glare as the raft begins to drift away from the Merry, with both Apis and Grandpa Ryu. No...I refuse to just sit here and let them take my friends away! Before anyone can stop me, I leap off the railing into the ocean and begin paddling as fast as I can towards the raft.

"Pika-chan!" Luffy exclaims.

"Stupid rodent, what did I just say?!" Zoro exclaims.

"Pika-chan! Get back here!" Sanji yells.

I ignore them and pick up speed, using my tail practically as a rudder. I swim past the Merry and eventually make it to the raft. I hoist myself up just as the Marines start firing at the raft. I'm guessing Sicko isn't a friend of these particular Marines.

"Stop it!" Apis yells. "Stop harassing Grandpa Ryu, he just wants to be left alone in peace!"

My eyes widen as Sicko picks Apis up by the back of her dress. That's it; I'm seeing red! "Pika!" I charge up and jump right onto Sicko's face making him drop Apis into the lifeboat. _'Leave her alone you bastard!'_

"Pika-chan!" Apis exclaims. I latch onto Sicko, digging my paws into his skin and quickly launch an electric attack, covering him in burns and making his hair wilt greatly. I squeak when I feel long nails clutch my fur and yank me off and into the air slightly.

"Pesky rodent...you'll pay for that!" Sicko yells. I'm about to land just as he raises his nails.

"Pika-chan! Get out of there!" I barely hear Sanji yell before I gust of wind comes my way. I move as best as I can but something sharp penetrates my side and my front. I scream in pain as red flies through the air; is that blood?

"PIKA-CHAN!"

I'm pretty sure it's Apis who screamed my name because I find myself in her arms a few moments later. "Pika-chan! Pika-chan say something! Are you okay?!" Apis cries. I see her arm come away red as she pulls me close. "I've got to stop the bleeding...hold on Pika-chan!" My vision becomes blurry as I feel Apis pressing against my body, probably applying pressure.

The voices around me are running together but I hear Sicko once again. "Now to finish you!"

 _'No!'_

I feel Apis' grip tighten around me and she closes her eyes, bracing herself. "No! Leave us alone!" I see a large shadow looming over us and I force my vision to clear. Grandpa Ryu is standing up! All by himself! Grandpa Ryu flicks his wings and knocks Sicko into the air. Good; I hope he falls into the ocean and drowns!

Apis looks up at him and a smile grows across her face, "Grandpa! You're standing up!" she exclaims happily. Grandpa Ryu spreads his wings fully and lets out a loud roar, making all the ships shake.

He then begins to flap his wings and I feel a smile tug at my face. _'C'mon Grandpa...you can do it!'_ Grandpa Ryu slowly lifts off the ground and hovers in the air.

"You're doing it Grandpa Ryu! You're flying!" Apis says with a wide smile. She looks down at me, "He's doing it Pika-chan; just hang in there, okay?"

 _'Okay…'_ I respond softly. But the minute I say that, the cannons start firing again, and smoke surrounds Grandpa Ryu. My hearing starts going again from all the loud noises and I hear Apis shouting for them to stop as well as the smashing of metal; I guess Luffy, Zoro and Sanji are trying to smash the cannons. I hear Apis yell for Grandpa Ryu to fly away and he does just that, but the cannons keep on hitting him!

My vision begins to blur just as the dragon falls into the sea with a large splash. I think I see Luffy jump over to him, but I'm not sure. I feel warm drops fall onto my fur and I look up to see Apis crying. She tightens her grip on me as she stares at Grandpa Ryu, tears streaming down her face. "GRANDPA!"

I slowly reach up and weakly grasp her dress, _'Apis...'_

She looks down at me, "Pika-chan, try not to move too much okay?" She's trying to put on a brave face for me but I know better.

 _'It'll be okay...'_ I say softly.

"Apis! Pika-chan!" We look to see Usopp swimming over to the raft.

"Usopp!" Apis cries, running over to him. "Pika-chan's hurt really bad!"

Usopp looks at me in concern for a moment before taking out some rope, "Don't worry; we'll get back to the ship and get some medicine, but we have to hurry!" Usopp ties Apis to his back with the rope and jumps into the water. Apis holds me tightly as Usopp swims back to the Merry and Nami helps hoist him up on deck.

Nami takes me from Apis arms and rushes me inside to the galley where all our medical equipment is. I feel a damp cloth wipe down the gash I had received (which made a diagonal line from my front to my side) and hear Nami sigh in relief. "Good, the wound isn't as deep as I thought." She gives me some medicine to help numb the pain before tending to my injury. "You're one lucky mouse Pika-chan." she comments.

After a few moments I have bandages wrapped around my shoulder and around my middle. The medicine has already started to kick in and I already feel much better. "Pikachu." I say to Nami with a grateful smile. _'Thanks a lot.'_

Nami smiles and picks me up, walking back out to the main deck where Usopp and Apis are watching. Apis' face seems to brighten upon seeing me awake and okay but the situation hasn't improved much. Luffy is still on Grandpa Ryu's back, talking to him while those Marines are preparing to fire at them.

Suddenly, everything starts shaking, from all around. Just then, Grandpa Ryu gets up and lets out a loud roar. Apis' eyes widen, "He's calling them…" she says.

"Calling who?" Usopp asks.

"The others…" Apis answers.

I look at her with wide eyes, _'Wait...does that mean what I think it means?'_

Apis gives me a nod, "He's calling to the other Millennial Dragons, telling them that it's time."

I tilt my head, "Pika?"

"Time for what?" Nami asks, voicing my own question.

"Hey! What's that?!" Usopp yells pointing. We all turn and gasp. A whole flock of dragons are flying towards us! We watch in awe as they soar over us, their feathers flying in the wind.

"A whole army of dragons!" Nami exclaims.

I carefully climb out of Nami's arms to her shoulder to get a better look. "Pikachu!"

"Who knew Grandpa Ryu had so many friends!" Usopp exclaims. The dragons all fly around the Marines and they're so high up they can't get a good shot in. I watch as Grandpa Ryu lets out one final roar before collapsing back into the ocean.

I strain my hearing and see Luffy nod, "Sure, I'll tell her for you." Oh no…

Luffy quickly grabs onto one of the dragons and flies high into the sky. "GUM GUM…" he stretches his foot high into the sky, aiming right for the giant Marine ship. "BATTLE AXE!" His leg collides with the ship, completely smashing it to pieces. That's all it takes for the Marines to all turn tail and run.

Zoro and Sanji get back onboard the Merry and I climb onto the railing as Sanji approaches me. He picks me up carefully and looks me over, "Are you alright Pika-chan?" he asks sincerely.

"Pika." I say with a firm nod, giving Nami a smile that she returns.

I catch Sanji give her a genuinely grateful look before he suddenly gives the back of my head a small smack. "Scare me like that again and I'll boil you in a stew!" he snaps as I whine and hold my head.

I send him a small glare but it quickly melts into a smile. "Pika pi." _'Sorry about that.'_

Sanji smiles back and gives me a good scratch behind the ears, understanding my apology. A few moments later, Luffy latches onto a dragon again and slings himself over to the Merry, and I swear the poor thing gasped in pain when he landed!

"Grandpa…"

My ears twitch at Apis' sad voice. I turn to see her on her knees staring at the spot where Grandpa Ryu once lay; he finally sank. He was gone.

"It's not fair…" she whimpers. "Now I can't keep my promise to you…"

Luffy steps up to her. "That's not true." he says. "Can't you hear the other dragons?" Apis gets up just as a giant wave of air rushes by, making the tremors increase even more. The water begins exploding around us as...rocks begin to emerge? Something green seems to be coming up from under the water.

"That's it!" Nami suddenly exclaims. "That's what it means!"

"What's what mean?" Sanji asks.

"The Dragon's Nest! It's really here!" Nami answers. Nami explains how the dragons are called Millennial Dragons because they migrate here once every one thousand years, because that's the only time when the Dragon's Nest resurfaces. That's why it's called Lost Island; because anyone who saw it back before it sunk again is long dead. "We're the next generation to bear witness to the rising of Lost Island and the Dragon's Nest!" Nami concludes.

Wow, that's actually pretty awesome! We're watching something that we'll never see again in our lifetime; what are the chances? We all watch in amazement as the island fully resurfaces.

After one thousand years...the Dragon's Nest is finally back.

* * *

 **I think we may need to rename the 'Monster Trio' to the 'Monster Quad' if Pika-chan keeps this fighting streak up XD**

 **I swear, before Franky and Robin came along, Sanji and Nami were the designated 'parents' of the crew, only they discipline their children so hard** ***cough*Luffy*cough*** **that in real life they'd be arrested for child abuse XD**


	22. Dragonite

After many moments, the shaking stops and we take in Lost Island in all its glory. It's almost like a giant clearing on a mountain, only on the ocean! There are all kinds of rock formations everywhere and lots of coral from being under the sea for one thousand years. The dragons all perch on the rocks, nestling back into their long lost homes.

I can't help but feel a pang of envy as I watch them get settled. Even though they only come here every millennia, this is still their home. It almost makes me homesick for my home. Is my home this cozy? Are there other creatures like me as far as the eye can see? Do my kind stay in one place, or do we migrate like the dragons? So many questions...and I still have no answers to them.

We disembark the ship (ours was the only one to come out unscathed when the island rose up; thanks karma) and Apis suddenly gasps. She takes off and we follow. We arrive at the middle of the island where a giant body of water is sitting, and right in the middle, is Grandpa Ryu, completely motionless.

"Grandpa Ryu!" Apis wades into the water as far as she can go. "Grandpa! Please get up!" she yells, her voice cracking. "Grandpa Ryu!"

"What are the chances he would land right on top of the Dragon's Nest." Nami says softly. "I hope that at least brought him some peace."

"I think so." Luffy says with a nod. "He said his wish had come true when he was sinking." I really hope that's true…

"What's with all these weird rock formations?" Usopp asks. He's right; a lot of these rocks look like dragons.

"They're probably all made of Dragonite." Sanji says.

Nami nods, "They're all skeletons; fossilized Dragonite that's been sitting on the ocean floor." She gazes at all the Dragonite structures. "Sometimes animals go to a pre-determined spot before they die...maybe this is like that, and it's a graveyard." Well, that's morbid…

"That can't be!" Apis suddenly shouts. "Grandpa Ryu said that coming back here would make him better! It's not a graveyard!"

Luffy's hat hides his eyes, "Listen, Grandpa Ryu was sad and lonely," he says. "He didn't have any friends until he met you; he wanted me to tell you that this last year with you was the happiest of his life."

Tears come to Apis' eyes and I slide off Sanji's shoulder gently. "You're lying…" Apis says softly. She turns back to Grandpa Ryu, "If this is really the Dragon's Nest it should make you strong again like you promised me!" Her tiny fists clench tightly and I make my way over to her slowly. "Talk to me! You have to get better! You have-"

I cut her off by tugging on her dress. _'Apis...'_ She looks down at me and give her an apologetic gaze. _'I'm sorry...he's gone.'_

Apis bites her lip and a sob escapes her. She falls to her knees allowing me to climb up and let her hug me. Her arms wrap around me tightly but careful not to irritate my wounds as her shoulders shake with her sobs. I close my eyes and let her cry into me. It's the least I can do as her friend. I let a few of my own tears gather at the corners of my eyes as well; I was really gonna miss Grandpa Ryu.

"Ryu was telling the truth Apis." We both look up at Luffy. "He told me that Millennial Dragons come here every one thousand years to be reborn again."

Apis slowly stands, still holding me. "He said all that?" she asks. Luffy points and we all turn to see a large white round egg sitting near the shore. The shell cracks and a tiny head covered in little feathers pops out with a weak cry.

 _'It's a baby...'_ I say in shock. We watch as multiple grown dragons surround the baby and nudge it lovingly. The baby opens its eyes and lets out a yawn before gazing at Apis. Its eyes are big and loving...just like Grandpa Ryu's. I feel more tears drip onto my head as Apis stares at the baby. Grandpa Ryu was telling the truth after all; he would never truly be gone as long as this island is around.

Apis wipes her eyes after a few more minutes and starts climbing back up towards the pirates. "I was wrong Apis." Nami says gently. "This isn't a graveyard at all; it's a place of renewal to bring old and new life together."

I look up at Apis and she slowly smiles. "Thank you all so much, for everything; especially you Luffy." she says before grinning. "Now how about we go home?" she asks. "Everyone's probably worried!"

I grin, _'There's the Apis I know!'_

Everyone smiles and Luffy punches the air, "Alright, let's get Apis home!"

Apis puts me down and we begin walking when one of the dragon statues catches my eye. The dragon is standing upright, it's wings spread proudly and facing the sky. It probably had some proud final moments. I can't help but keep staring at the statue.

My vision suddenly runs together and the statue seems to change. It becomes black like those figures in my mind, its snout becomes rounded and arms become apparent on its body. I even see a few antennae sprout on its head. I stare at the new image as it stays unmoving before me.

 _'Dragonite...'_

"Hey Pika-chan!" Sanji's voice snaps me out of my daze and making the statue revert to its regular state. "Let's go."

I turn to him and nod, giving the statue one last glance before hurrying after the others. I have no idea what that was, but I think I finally have a figure to go with the name Dragonite. So that word does have something to do with my memory...but what?

Just as I catch up with everyone we feel a very familiar gust of wind nearby. We all turn to see Sicko staring down at us, soaking wet and very angry. Apis starts shaking and I step in front of her growling viciously while everyone else glares at him. I can already tell that this guy is going down.

"You just don't know when to quit." Luffy remarks.

"Quiet!" Sicko barks, "You may have stopped me temporarily but you'll never defeat me!" He eyes the whole island hungrily, like its one big gold mine. This man has officially made it onto my 'attack to kill' list. He's gonna pay for hurting me and threatening Apis and Grandpa Ryu!

"There's Dragonite everywhere! It's beautiful!" Sicko exclaims.

"So what? Break open all the skeletons you like, you won't find your elixer!" Nami yells.

Sicko shrugs, "Fine, then I'll just improvise." He gazes at the dragons. "Perhaps I'll just use some of the fresh supply right in front of me." Okay, this man is dead. No is going to find his body and no one will even care that he's gone. It has been decided. "And you can all bear witness...as I rip them all apart." Sicko raises his arm and Apis runs towards him.

"No! Don't!"

My eyes widen, _'Apis, no!'_

Sicko sends a blast of razor wind right at her but Usopp tackles her out of the way just in time. "Calm down! You'll be cut into ribbons!" Usopp says.

Apis glares at Sicko, "I don't care, I have to protect the Dragon's Nest even if it costs me my life!" she says bravely. "I can't let men like him destroy it! I won't you hurt these beautiful creatures!" Atta girl! You tell him Apis!

Sicko growls, "Well if you still insist on defying me...all of you can die!"

Hardcore logic...asshole.

Sicko raises his hand, "Sickle Sickle...Whirlwind!" A giant x-shaped wind gust blows towards Usopp and Apis, but Luffy steps in at the last second to take the blow.

"Luffy!"

Luffy falls to his knees and Zoro steps up, but he backs down once Luffy stands up again, as if the attack did nothing. You never fail to impress me Luffy. "Don't worry, I'll deal with him." Luffy says in a low voice. "I made a promise." My ears perk up; is he talking about Grandpa Ryu?

Luffy runs towards Sicko, his fist reeling. "Gum Gum...Pistol!" Luffy's fist flies towards him as Sicko unleashes another air strike. I cringe as multiple cuts appear all over Luffy's body, throwing his punch off course and Sicko jumps to the top of a rock.

"You'll have to do better than that, rubber boy!" Sicko taunts.

Oh that is it! I've had it with this punk! I have to find a way to help somehow, without charging directly in there. I quickly begin to run around until I'm behind the battle; I should be safe from any crossfires here.

Sicko holds up his hand again, "You're no match for me, bouncy boy so you might as well accept death now!" I sneak closer and lock eyes with Luffy for a split second. I gives me a subtle smile and I get into position as Sicko raises his hand.

"Sickle Sickle…"

I walk up behind him sparks flying from my cheeks. I launch an electric attack at full power before he can even brace himself for it, stopping his attack. Sicko wobbles unsteadily on his feet and Luffy runs towards him. "Quit hopping around and let's finish this!" he yells. He stretches up and grabs Sicko's shoulders.

"Now Gum Gum…" His head stretches back. Oh boy, this is gonna hurt… "Bell!" Their heads collide and Sicko falls backwards making me clear the way.

Luffy lands and stretches his arms back. "Now Gum Gum...Bazooka!" His hands collide right into Sicko's back, probably damaging his spine quite badly, and he flies into the air, out of sight. Luffy grins, "You lose!" he taunts.

"Pika pikachu!" I say triumphantly. That guy wouldn't be bothering us again! My revenge has been successfully attained! I look down at Apis, and Luffy and I give her a thumbs up.

We head back to Warship Island and fill the villagers in about Lost Island and the dragons. They're a bit shocked at first, but they're pretty accepting about it. Maybe next time they'll actually remember this and warn the next generation about it so they can be ready.

Grandpa Bokuden offers to celebrate by making more Pork Buns but we quickly decline, having learned our lesson from last time. We just settle with getting the recipe. We'll just have to remember to start these early so we can kill four to five hours easier. Bokuden tries to get into his ramble session again, but unfortunately we have to get going. We have to get the Grand Line after all.

* * *

Saying goodbye to Apis is definitely not easy. It would've been great for her to come with us, but her place is here. Someone has to take care of these dragons and pass on their story to the next generations so they can take care of them too.

 _'I'm really gonna miss you Apis.'_ I say sadly.

Apis kneels in front of me. "I'll miss you too." She scoops me up and gives me a big hug. "Thank you for everything."

I smile, _'It's what friends do.'_ I respond.

"You'll come back and visit someday, won't you?" She asks once we pull away.

I nod, _'Of course; and when I do, we'll cook more food together!'_

"Yeah!" She exclaims happily. "Good luck in finding your home; be careful okay?"

I nod, _'I will; I'll tell you all about it when we meet again!'_ She gives me one last hug and I scamper onto the Merry just as Zoro raises the anchor. We all wave goodbye as the island shrinks out of sight. I really hope we'll get to meet that girl again; she was one in a million, and not because she had Devil Fruit powers.

"Do you think she'll be able to look after that place by herself?" Usopp asks.

Nami nods, "She may be small but she's determined to protect the dragons; she'll be fine, won't she Pika-chan?"

"Pikachu!" I exclaim happily.

"She was like a full blooded member of this crew." Luffy comments.

"She sure was." Zoro agrees.

"Pika pika." I say, still watching the shrinking island.

A hand suddenly appears on my head and I turn to see Sanji behind me. "So, get any memories back?"

I start at his words. "Pika?"

Sanji smirks, "I'm not blind Pika-chan; I know you talked to Apis about it, and I noticed how you got whenever Dragonite was brought up."

I stare at him in shock; he really noticed all of that? Wow...I never thought he would give it much thought…I give a sad smile and shake my head.

Sanji nods, "Nothing, huh?" He sighs, "Well don't worry; you'll get it back eventually."

"Of course you will!" Luffy exclaims, looking at me. "Your dream is to find your home, so we're gonna find your home. Simple as that."

"Let's just hope finding it doesn't involve going through a mirage barrier with a giant storm." Usopp comments, making me laugh.

 _'Same here, Usopp.'_

Nami gives me a pat, "You know, after seeing a place as amazing as Lost Island, it makes me wonder what other strange island's we'll find on the Grand Line."

Zoro shrugs, "If an island outside the Grand Line can rise out of the ocean, I'd say anything's possible once we get there."

"Yep." Luffy says with a nod. "And we're gonna see it all!"

"Pika!" I agree happily. With a crew like this, my memories are as good as found. We'll find them eventually, and my home too! Even though my memories are still pretty wonky, at least I got some clues to getting the rest of them back. It would just have to be baby steps.

It may take a while, but eventually, I'll find what I seek, along with everyone else! Together, the Grand Line doesn't stand a chance!

* * *

 **Alright, three arcs down, one million to go! XD**

 **While re-watching this arc, I forgot how much I despise Erik. That dude is such an asshole and he pisses me off more than any other One Piece villain! Not even Arlong made me that mad and Pika-chan pretty much embodies my hatred in this chapter! Maybe it's because he looks like a douchebag just as much as he acts...or it's because he was trying to slice up an adorable little girl and commit first-degree poaching...or maybe both...I STILL HATE HIM!**

 **Look forward to the next chapter 'cause the time has finally arrived! MOVIE TIME!**


	23. Clockwork Island Adventure

**The time has finally arrived! IT'S MOVIE TIME! And since they're in my story, that means they're all CANON! But first, a few notes before we get started:**

 **1\. All movies will be one chapter each. This story is gonna be long enough with episodes alone so might as well slim it down a tad. Plus, we watch the regular OP in episodes and movies all in one go, so I guess you could see this as movie tradition? IDK... One or two movies might be split into two parts, but only for aftermath purposes (Looking at YOU Movie 6!)**

 **2\. Since all the movies are going to be canon in this universe, I'm going to try to fit them into the episode timeline as best I can to keep the overall story flowing. So that means a few arc transitions may be changed along the way. But you knew coming into this story that things were gonna be different anyway so why am I even telling you this?**

 **3\. If you haven't noticed by now, I watch the OP dub (The Funimation one, not the 4kids one thank you very much!) and only two of the movies are dubbed (Well, three if you count the Alabasta movie, but that's pretty much an episode mash soooo...). So when Devil Fruits or Japanese words pop up, I'm going to attempt to write them as if they were dubbed. That shouldn't happen too often but I apologize in advance if I mistranslate anything.**

 **And that's it! I'll admit, I like Movie 2 okay. When I first saw it and was getting into OP I thought it was awesome, but coming back to it...yeah, the plot is kinda dumb, especially with the 'kidnap Nami' trope rearing its ugly head ( but that's a rant for another chapter) and the colors are actually kinda dull (unless my quality sucked), but overall, it's still a fun movie and a great starter for beginning fans!**

 **But enough talk! Without further ado - Movie 2: Clockwork Island Adventure!**

* * *

Can pirates ever catch a break?

That's the question I've been asking myself for the past few hours here on the Merry. Only the Merry is empty except for me; the Merry's been stolen, so in turn, I've been stolen too.

Let me start from the beginning. After departing from Warship Island, we all decided to treat ourselves to a relaxing day on the beach of a nearby island, as a reward for our hard work. Luffy was playing with some windmill toy while watching the ocean, Usopp was getting ready to swim, Zoro was training, Nami was sunbathing and Sanji was rubbing oil on her back. Yeah, he promised not to try anything, but I was still keeping an ear open for Nami's inevitable punch.

I had decided to nap, but not on the beach. I didn't want to get sand in my fur, so the Merry was the best place. The deck was nice and warm and the sun was the perfect temperature, I fell asleep instantly. It was the rocking of the Merry that woke me up, I'm not sure how long I was asleep, but I realized that the boat was rocking a lot more than usual.

At first I thought the waves had gotten a bit rough, but when I looked out to see the beach getting farther away, my ears drooped and that question entered my mind.

Can pirates ever catch a break?

We turn our backs for one second and the ship has already been stolen! Seriously, what the hell fate? I jump onto the back railing of the ship, waving but not crying out; if someone was driving this ship I didn't want to give myself away.

"Oh no! Pika-chan's still on the Merry!" I hear Sanji yell.

"Come back here!" Luffy yells and stretches his arm towards the ship. I smile hopefully, reaching towards his hand, but he runs out of stretch just inches from the ship. My heart sinks as Luffy's arm retracts back, knocking him over as the Straw Hats yell for Merry and I in the distance.

"MERRY! PIKA-CHAN!"

Great, now what? Maybe I can take care of these thieves. I jump off the railing and peek out to see no one on the ship. Wait, how's that possible? How is the ship moving if no one's driving it? I don't like this…

I quickly scamper over to Nami's tangerine orchard and climb up among the branches. I stay there but I don't hear or sense any movement; whoever's steering the ship must be really stealthy. I don't think they know I'm here, so I might as well take advantage, like with Arlong. After a while, I suddenly hear multiple voices on the ship as well as footsteps. I climb down from the tree and peek out of the orchard.

"What the hell is this?" My eyes widen as something grabs my tail, lifting me up. I look to see a pirate, wearing an outfit with a lot of diamonds and numbers on it. He looks like a card. He holds me close to his face, "Some kind of rat? Didn't know those pirates had a pet."

I growl loudly; that's it, I've had it! I let loose and shock the pirate easily, making him drop me and fall over. I land on my feet and sigh; I'm already having a bad day, so no one better mess with me!

All of a sudden, I can't breathe. My eyes widen as I giant orb of water surrounds me and lifts me into the air. I turn around to see a blonde lady standing before me, her arm extended and halfway made of water. What the hell? "A pet, hm?" she says sweetly, looking at me. "Well, we don't want any vermin on our new ship."

I let out a muffled cry as she tosses the orb and I land in the ocean. I resurface and look to see that she's thrown me a good distance away from the Merry; there's no way I can catch it! I look around; there's nothing but sea for miles!

Guess I'll have to swim; but I'll find land before I tire out, right?

* * *

I'm at my limit...I can't swim for much longer…

Last time I at least had a board to float on but here I just have myself, and even I can't swim in cold seawater forever. I can barely keep my head above water and the waves are keeping me from floating and resting, as well as the fear of being eaten by sea creatures. Out of all the times I've been lost at sea, this is definitely the worst.

My limbs feel numb from the cold water, and I'm so out of breath that going under for a second feels like I'm drowning. I'm reaching some rocks, but they stick straight up and they're slippery; they'll be no help.

Just then, I see something in the distance, something small… it looks like a little boat. I strain my vision with the last of my strength and I catch sight of five heads with distinct hair colors I know so well. Black, green, red, and yellow. Oh thank Arceus!

"Pi...Pika…!" I call out with the last of my strength, flailing wildly to stay afloat. I hear muffled voices and a splash just as my energy gives out and I sink. I feel warm arms wrap around me and thrust me above water. I cough and breathe heavily, trying to regain my strength. I feel whoever's holding me climb onto the little boat and start rubbing me, trying to warm me up.

"Pika-chan! Pika-chan, are you alright? Can you hear me?" I open my eyes to see Sanji right above me, as well as the others.

Wait...why are they all dressed like they're going to a wedding? And why does it look like they're going to Sanji and Nami's wedding? Did I miss something?

"Poor thing, you're freezing!" Nami exclaims.

"You must've been in the water for a while!" Usopp adds. I start to shiver and nuzzle against Sanji; he feels so warm right now! My limbs feel heavy finally being out of the water and I'm really exhausted. I hear rustling and open my eyes to see Sanji take off his suit jacket and wrap me in it, helping to dry me off and keep me warm. The material is ten times less comfy than Sanji's normal suit. I open my eyes a little more, feeling a bit better, receiving relieved looks from Sanji, Usopp, and Nami.

"Hey, you idiots!" A tiny voice yells. We all look to see a little boy wearing a strange hat floating in the water nearby. "Do you just pass by every drowning child you see?!" he demands.

"When did a kid get here?" Luffy wonders out loud.

"Was he always there?" Zoro asks.

"I didn't even notice; did you see him?" Usopp says, turning to Sanji, Nami, and me. We all shake our heads; even I didn't see him, and I was actually drowning!

"Where's the drowning kid?" Luffy asks the boy.

"I'm the one drowning!" The boy yells.

"Huh?" Luffy tilts his head, "You don't look like you're drowning."

The boy tenses before frowning, "Dammit, you ruined everything!"

"Akisu! What's going on?" We look to see a larger boat floating towards us, headed by a man wearing a large coat and goggles. He takes us in and looks at the boy, Akisu. "Looks like we got duped." he says.

Akisu looks a bit upset but shrugs it off, "It doesn't matter, they're just a bunch of poor idiots." He says, causing us all to bristle angrily. "They passed me by just to save some stupid mouse!" Dammit if I wasn't so cold or tired I'd show that brat a thing or two!

The man on the ship looks at us and seems to zoom in on me when I start to shiver again. This jacket really isn't the best at absorbing water. I don't have hypothermia, do I? Cause that would really suck at a time like this. "Is it alright?" he suddenly asks.

We all look at him in surprise "Huh?"

"Your pet, is it alright?" he asks again.

"Pi...pika!" _'Not...a pet!'_ I manage tiredly before giving into my desire to sleep.

I don't know how it happened but we somehow ended up on the larger boat and I was wrapped in a proper blanket. Almost immediately, I was dry and warm, my energy returning to me. I open my eyes to a relieved Sanji and Nami and spy the others nearby.

"Are you okay, Pika-chan?" Nami asks.

I respond by climbing out of the blanket and leaping onto Sanji's shoulder. "Pika pikachu!" I respond happily. Hypothermia successfully averted!

"I'll take that as a yes." Sanji says, giving me a scratch on the head.

"Thanks for the help!" Luffy says, giving me a pat as well.

"Who are you guys?" Usopp asks.

The two jump onto a pile of boxes, presumably full of treasure. "We're Borodo and Akisu! The Thief Brothers!" They announce with pride. I sweatdrop as the pile of boxes they stand on collapse, revealing a bunch of trash and junk that doesn't look valuable in the slightest. Guess these guys are all talk.

Akisu doesn't take our comments kindly. "Don't underestimate Borodo!" he says indignantly. "He's going to steal the Diamond Clock and be King of the Thieves!" Geez, first King of the Pirates and now King of the Thieves? How many titles like this are out there?

" _The_ famous Diamond Clock?" Nami exclaims, her eyes sparkling. Of course, Nami would know about something big and valuable. "It's the finest jewel and artifact ever made; it's the most valuable clock in the world!" she explains.

"That's our brilliant Nami!" Sanji cheers. Sanji, not now please; I really don't feel like disciplining you in front of the small child.

"Oh, so you're like me!" Luffy says happily. "I plan to become King of the Pirates!"

"Seriously?" Borodo asks in shock. "With that pathetic boat?" He points to the small boat, still floating in the water.

"Hell no!" Luffy and Usopp yell.

"Our ship was stolen," Sanji explains. "That bastard also nearly drowned Pika-chan."

"Wait…" Borodo says. "Does your ship have a flag with a straw hat on it?"

Usopp perks up. "Yeah! You've seen it?"

Borodo nods, "I saw it...with the Trump Pirates."

I tilt my head, "Pika?"

We listen as Borodo explains how they're pirates who have a hold on a place called Clockwork Island and terrorize the surrounding area. He shows us their wanted posters; quite a strange looking bunch. But then again, I have no right to talk. Turns out the Diamond Clock Borodo wants is also on Clockwork Island, and therefore, in their possession.

"They don't look so tough." Sanji and Zoro comment. "What was that?!" They both explode, butting heads.

"Pika pi!" I exclaim, tapping Sanji's head. _'Seriously guys, not now!'_ Just as Luffy's admiring how cool these pirates look, my ears twitch. I jump off Sanji's shoulder and peek over the side of the ship. Something's coming. Namely, an army of ships with weird sails.

Akisu follows my gaze and points to the ships. "Borodo! Over there!" The ships all have the same pirate flag and their sails are coated with numbers, and either diamonds or spades.

"The Trump Pirates." Borodo growls. The lead ship draws closer and I catch something at the helm. There's a blonde lady who looks like she's bathing or something and I tense up with a growl; that's the lady who threw me overboard! Sanji starts to blush and I sweep my tail under his feet, making him fall flat on his back. I do not want to deal with this now.

"Heeeeey! Trump guuuuuuys!" Luffy yells, catching Blonde Lady's attention.

"And what might you want?" she asks tiredly.

"Give back our ship!" Luffy demands.

Blonde Lady tilts her head, "Your ship?" she asks. "I've never seen it." You liar!

"Don't play dumb with us!" Nami snaps. "We know you took it!" Blonde Lady suddenly locks her gaze on Nami; she looks intrigued or something. I glance between the two of them and give Blonde Lady a look; this isn't going where I think it is, is it?

A round guy wearing some weird white armor making him look like a giant ball suddenly pops out, looking down at us. "Alright, time for a riddle!" He announces.

"Riddle?" Sanji asks, getting to his feet.

"Who will become the King of the Pirates?" The round guy asks. Uh...that's not a riddle, that's a flat out question.

"Oh come on Boo Jack, that's way too easy." Blonde Lady says smugly.

"Me." Luffy says simply, pointing to himself. Well, I don't mind that answer.

"Boo! Wrong!" Boo Jack says, like a buzzer. "The correct answer is our captain, Bear King." Bear King? Oh yeah, he's the big guy on one of the posters, right?

"No you're wrong." Luffy responds. "Guess you just have no common sense." Ooh, burn!

"That wasn't even a riddle." Sanji says, exasperated. That's what I said!

"I knew these guys were nothing special." Zoro sighs; he almost sounds disappointed.

"You dare mock the Trump Pirates?!" Boo Jack demands.

"Looks like we'll have to teach them a lesson." Blonde Lady says and snaps her fingers. On cue, tons of pirates wearing those same stupid card outfits emerge from the ships.

"Here they come." Sanji says.

"Looks like we have no choice." Zoro says, picking up a wooden staff.

Luffy places his hat on Nami's head and pulls back his fist. "Hey Pika-chan!" he calls. I answer and latch onto the back of his vest. "Gum Gum Pistol!" I release my electricity, letting the pirates have a lightning fist to the face. Sanji flips and kicks, Zoro improvises sword techniques with his staff and I jump off and smack down a few pirates myself with my steel tail. I speed towards a large group of pirates and white energy surrounds me, allowing me to knock them all over like bowling pins.

Unfortunately after Boo Jack nearly crushes us by turning into a giant spike ball (don't ask), Usopp chickens out and begins driving the boat away at top speed. I gotta say, he really has some strong legs to propel a boat so far away so fast. But thanks to the absurd speed, a tiny box goes flying into the sea.

"Stop!" Akisu yells frantically, hitting Usopp over the head.

Borodo dives in and grabs the box, "I got it!" Akisu deflates with relief, but it's short lived. The next thing we know, a bomb appears on the boat blowing us all into the water. I'm not touching the ocean for a week after this…

I manage to climb onto the piece of wood that everyone's hanging onto and I hear a familiar voice.

"Time for another riddle!" It says. "What do we want the most?"

That's another question, moron! However once I face the offender my eyes widen in fear.

"Nami!" Sanji cries. Nami is unconscious in Blonde Lady's arms, riding on top of Boo Jack!

"Correct!" Boo Jack says. "She will make the perfect souvenir for our captain, Bear King!"

Blonde Lady smirks playfully. "I wonder what kind of wild things he's going to do once he receives her?"

"Wild things?!" We all exclaim. Oh Arceus in heaven that does not sound pleasant! Boo Jack throws one more bomb at us, destroying our raft. By the time we all resurface safely, Blonde Lady, Boo Jack, and Nami are gone, their fleet already retreating.

* * *

Thankfully, despite being blown up twice, we managed to find a bunch of pieces of wood and stick them together to keep all of us afloat. Borodo then got some rope and cloth and made a wind sail so we could move with the wind.

As Akisu proudly stated, "Borodo is a genius when it comes to manipulating the wind!" Boy, this kid really likes inflating his brother's ego. Especially considering that he's the reason Nami was taken from us as Sanji pointed out. What's so special about that little box anyway?

I watch as Akisu takes it out, winds it up, and opens the lid, allowing music to emerge. It's a music box. "That music box is all Akisu has left of his hometown." Borodo says solemnly. My ears perk up. Akisu doesn't have a home?

Borodo explains how he found Akisu as a baby and that music box just drifting in the sea. That music box is the only key to where he came from and it was the only thing that would calm him down when he was younger.

"So then...you're not really brothers?" Luffy asks.

Borodo shakes his head, "No, we're still brothers, even if we're not blood related."

Akisu nods, "Yeah! And I'm gonna be a great thief just like Borodo!" That's actually really sweet. I can tell that these two have a really strong bond; Borodo must have tried his hardest to raise Akisu right.

A wave of sympathy washes over me as the music still comes from the music box. I approach Akisu and peek over his arms to gaze at the music box. The melody is soft and soothing, almost like it's remembering a time of peace and happiness. "You like the song?" Borodo asks looking down at me.

Sanji smiles knowingly, "I guess Pika-chan feels sympathetic towards you." I give him a small smile; he knows me so well.

"Sympathetic?" Akisu asks.

"Pika-chan doesn't know where its home is either." Sanji answers. "It lost its memory and has no idea where it came from."

"Pika-chan's dream is to find its home!" Luffy adds.

"Looks like Pika-chan knows how you feel about not having a home." Usopp agrees.

Akisu looks at me in astonishment and slowly gives me a hesitant pat. I smile, leaning into his touch a bit and the boy smiles. A little while later, we pass a small whirlpool.

"See that?" Borodo asks. "That means we're nearing Clockwork Island!"

We all stare ahead as the island comes into view. Holy crap, it's huge! And by huge, I mean really really tall! There's a base, but there's also a giant thin tower that climbs into the sky, almost above the clouds! It looks like it goes on for miles!

"So that's where those bastards are keeping Nami…" Sanji mutters.

"The Merry's up there too." Usopp adds.

"And my swords." Zoro says.

"And my hat!" Luffy concludes.

"So, what do you say?" Borodo asks. "We want to steal the Diamond Clock, and you need to get your friend and ship back." he looks at us. "So let's storm Trump Castle together!"

Luffy grins and nods, "Yeah! Let's go!" Akisu and I smile as well; those Trump Guys are going down!

* * *

Once we land, Luffy's already bouncing around with excitement. "Whoa! This is so cool! This is awesome! This is amaaaazing!" Easy there tiger, don't waste your energy before we even get to the castle.

"How did the islanders even build this place?" Usopp asks, gazing up at the tall tower.

"They built it to keep out invaders." Borodo answers. "If enemies try to get in, they set traps on the stairs; they'd be dead before they even reached the island." Wow, that's one hardcore security system!

"Then how do we get up there?" Usopp asks.

"There's an elevator that runs through the center shaft." Borodo answers, pointing. "When the Trump Pirates come out again to terrorize the sea the secret door will open." Whoa, we have to wait for the pirates to come back out? That could take forever! I glance and see Luffy, Zoro and Sanji already climbing the stairs and quickly scamper after them.

Usopp, Borodo and Akisu follow a few seconds later. "Didn't you hear a word I just said?!" Borodo demands. "There are traps on these stairs!"

"Then we'll just take them as they come." Zoro answers simply.

"Nami's up there waiting for us; we can't afford to wait." Sanji adds. Exactly; I'm not leaving Nami up there any longer than she has to just because we had to wait for a door to open!

We make it up a good portion of the stairs without running into anything; I'm almost ready to let my guard down. But of course, the minute I do, the stairs become flat. Before we can even regain our footing a wave of water comes sliding towards us. We begin to slide down the stairs when a whole bunch of stone pillars shoot out, all of them bearing spikes!

Luffy grabs the wall and manages to catch all of us before we hit them, but this place isn't done yet. Multiple large round boulders begin rolling towards us to crush us. Sanji looks at me and I nod. My tail becomes iron and we leap towards the rocks. Using my tail and Sanji's feet, we smash through the boulders one at a time, leaping between the railing and the wall.

Zoro takes the opportunity to flip the stone floor, making the water drain out and we continue on foot. There are a lot more rocks that come our way, but Sanji and I smash through them easily. Thank Arceus we didn't have anything on the ship; our weapons are always with us wherever we go!

We finally reach the exit, which is blocked by a large piece of wood, and Sanji and I burst through it, allowing the others to get through. We all gasp for breath and I shake the water out of my fur; I'm not going into the ocean for a month after this! The town is actually pretty neat looking; it doesn't look anything you'd see on any other island. We can even see the Trump Pirates' tower and the Merry at the top. At least now we know where to go.

"Shit…"

My ears twitch and I turn to Sanji, my eyes growing wide. Sanji's sitting on the ground, breathing through his teeth in pain and it's obvious why. His feet are scraped and bruised; he had slammed through solid rock with his bare feet! I had completely forgotten that he didn't have his shoes with him! I hurry over to him and place my paw on his leg, "Pikachu…" I say worriedly, eyeing his feet.

Sanji waves his hand. "It's fine Pika-chan; nothing to worry about."

I want to protest but his tone and the look in his eyes suggest otherwise. I just hope he doesn't do anything to injure them any further if he still wants working feet after this. Much to Borodo and Akisu's disdain, we head into town to get food, new clothes, and leave them with the bill. Pirates; it's just what we do. At least now they won't look ridiculous when they're fighting this Bear King guy.

After that, we wander into a shop, full of cute little toys and trinkets. Just then, Luffy starts making gestures with his arms since his mouth is still full of food. "What are you saying?" Usopp asks. He carefully reads Luffy's gestures like it's the easiest thing in the world. "Clockwork...Island...is a fun...island!"

I gape at them; how is that fair?! Why is it that whenever I do charades no one gets it?! It's times like this when I really miss Apis…

"You know nothing of this place." A voice says. We look up to see two scientists, a man and a woman, sitting at a table a ways away from us. "This place used to be an island of dreams."

We listen as they explain how they were the ones who built the Diamond Clock to celebrate the birth of their child. Apparently all the people on this island are skilled mechanics, but ever since the Trump Pirates took over they've only been making weapons instead of the inventions and machines they want to build. Bear King threatened to destroy the island if they rebelled since they have total control inside that tower, so they're stuck living like this.

"Well don't worry," Borodo says. "These guys will stop them; the greatest pirates in the world!" Boy, he's really keen on getting us to beat these guys up. Granted, that's most likely going to happen since they kidnapped Nami and everything, but still.

"Hey, we just came to get Nami and our things back!" Usopp protests. "Can't we just do that?"

"But doesn't what they said make you angry?" Akisu asks.

Borodo nods, "As long as the Trump Pirates are here no one can help this island!"

Usopp suddenly smiles knowingly, "Oh I get it; you want us to get rid of the Trump Pirates so you can steal that Diamond Clo-"

"Shut up!" Borodo hisses, clapping a hand over his mouth.

"We won't mind if you take it." The lady scientist says, catching our attention. "In fact, we'd be grateful if it was gone; it just reminds us of a painful past now." Geez it must really suck being under pirate control. I thought Arlong controlling Nami's island was bad, this is almost worse!

Of course, the scientists try to warn us that it's too dangerous to go up against the Trump Pirates, but there's no way we're letting that stop us! Like Luffy said, if we don't fight, we won't be able to keep going on towards the future.

We run out of the store and head towards the upper island. Time to storm a castle!

* * *

A little while later, we're floating towards the Trump Castle in a hot air balloon. Well, it's more like a giant basket with a wind sail attached but it's pretty much the same thing. I sit on Sanji's shoulder as we get higher and higher, giving us a great view of the whole island.

"Don't get too comfortable." Borodo warns. "The land down there is covered in landmines!" My ears wilt; yikes, no wonder we took this route of travel. I continue gazing down at the island while Akisu fixed Luffy's little windmill toy (turns out the kid's a prodigy mechanic, go figure). The island as a whole is actually really beautiful; I almost forgot that those Trump Pirate guys are controlling it.

"Oh my, you're all still alive?" My ears twitch as a sickenly sweet voice is heard. We gaze down at a water spout as a liquid substance bursts out of it and forms Blonde Lady. Sanji immediately gets hearts in his eyes and leans towards her out the basket before I can stop him. I groan and leap off Sanji; you know this is the same lady who took Nami right? Thankfully Usopp keeps him from falling out of the basket. She floats towards us, her legs completely made of water.

"There's no way she's a regular human!" Zoro says.

"She has Devil Fruit powers!" Borodo agrees.

"That's right!" Another voice says. We look to see Boo Jack riding towards us on a unicycle, balancing on a thin rope.

"The Liquid Liquid Fruit to be precise." Blonde Lady says. She looks at Boo Jack, "Boo Jack...let's reward them." Arceus could she please stop talking like she's trying to seduce every one of us?! It's getting on my nerves and really creepy! Plus, she's completely incapacitating Sanji!

Thankfully, Boo Jack attacks first, so Sanji snaps out of his love daze. Boo Jack throws a ball at us and Sanji jumps up to kick it; hopefully that won't hurt his feet too badly. Just then, spikes emerge from the ball! "Pika!" I yell.

Sanji realizes too late and he kicks the spiked ball. "Sanji!" Luffy yells.

"It went right through his foot!" Zoro exclaims.

Sanji's eyes roll back into his head and he starts to fall. _'Sanji!'_ I leap into the air and wrap all four of my paws around his leg and Borodo grabs my tail just as we're about to fall out of the basket.

"Oh, you saved him?" Borodo looks up as Blonde Lady floats up to the balloon. "How naughty!" Water blasts us and I feel Borodo's grip slip from my tail.

I cry out and let go of Sanji's leg as we fall towards the ground. Sanji cracks his eyes open and he grabs me. In a fit of adrenaline he pulls me to his chest and positions himself so that he's between me and the ground. "Pika!" _'Sanji, no!'_

Sanji hits the ground and bounces away, me clinging to his chest and an explosion throws us even further through the air. Dammit, we hit a landmine. I squeeze my eyes shut, Sanji tightening his grip around me as we roll and tumble down the steep hills. We surprisingly didn't hit any more landmines on the way down and we finally roll to a stop, me ending up under Sanji.

I crawl out from under his weight and face him worriedly. His feet are now both bruised and bloody and he's covered in dirt, grass stains, and cuts. He must've taken the brunt of that explosion too. "Pika pi…" _'Sanji, you stupid idiot...'_ I nudge his face with my own and shake his shoulder but he doesn't respond. Dammit Sanji, you better wake up! You can't just take that fall for me and not wake up! My ears twitch and I turn to see multiple figures in the distance. The pirates are coming!

"Pika...chan…"

I turn to Sanji sharply; he's awake! "Pika!" I exclaim happily.

Sanji coughs and shudders in pain."Run...get out...of here…" he rasps. My smile fades. I look back towards the pirates and frown; I may not be able to fight all of them, but there's no way I'm leaving Sanji with these guys!

Thinking fast, I run to Sanji's side, climb on his back and quickly slip under his shirt. Sanji's doesn't react so he must've passed out again. I crawl up near his collar, keeping my body flat and my ears low and hold onto his shoulders as I feel Sanji get lifted up.

"Tie him up and take him to Bear King." I hear Blonde Lady say. I bite my tongue to keep my electricity down; she is so going to pay later! And with her being made out of water, oh, I'm gonna have a ball. I'm gonna shock her so hard that she'll evaporate!

I allow myself to let go of Sanji's shoulders as ropes start to wrap around him tightly, securing me to Sanji's back. I'm actually surprised that none of the pirates notice me. Either my luck is turning around or these guys are just stupid...probably both. The ropes tighten, nearly cutting off my air supply and I feel Sanji being tossed around like a sack of potatoes. This might be the worst decision I've ever made.

I try not to choke as Sanji is thrown one final time, landing hard on his back and nearly squishing me.

"Sanji!" Wait, is that Nami?

"N-Nami..." Sanji chokes out. "I'm sorry...you had to see me like this..."

Well, we found Nami; that's one less thing to worry about. Now we just have to get her out of here somehow… I hear a different voice, probably belonging to that Bear King who's behind all this. I listen as Nami tries to bargain with him to spare the others, but it probably fails since I hear Nami frantically say, "Wait, that's not what I meant!"

Sounds like a whole bunch of those Trump guys are around; I think I can stand to lay low in here for a little while.

* * *

Unfortunately, a little while turns out to be almost unbearable. Sanji's weight on me is almost cutting off my air supply! And it doesn't help that these ropes are making it even harder to move and breathe! I then hear something like machinery running and multiple excited voices yelling out.

"It's finally finished!"

"The King Cannon!"

"The only weapon fit for our amazing Bear King!"

"With this weapon by my side, I'll become King of the Pirates!"

King Cannon? That doesn't sound good. I wince as Sanji starts to shiver in pain, drawing Nami's attention.

"Nami…" Sanji says hoarsely, "I'm...sorry…"

Uh...can we have less talking and more getting off me?

"Don't worry about it." I hear Nami say reassuringly. "These guys are morons, I can handle them."

All this shaking is really hurting me, Sanji.

"That's not enough…" Sanji says a bit louder.

I'd really appreciate some breathing room here, guys!

"I wanted...to save you with my own strength…"

Okay, I cannot breathe, you are crushing me, _please get off!_

I start to squirm, tapping my tail against Sanji's back rapidly. Sanji twitches and starts to wriggle a bit and I hear Nami again. "Sanji? What's wrong, are you in pain?"

"No..." Sanji says, a hint of a smile on his voice; oh Arceus am I tickling him? Really? "Something's...in my-" I attempt to crawl up his back making it arch up for a moment before it crashes back down due to pain. I squeak and try to climb faster only resulting in more wriggling from Sanji and more pain for me.

"What in the world...?" I finally feel a hand on Sanji's back helping him sit up; Nami, you are a saint! I finally make some progress, climbing through Sanji's constant twitching and wiggling and poke my head through Sanji's collar with a relieved sigh.

"Wha...Pika-chan?" Nami exclaims, before hushing herself.

"What?" Sanji stains his neck to try and see me.

"Pika." _'Heh...hey guys.'_

"Pika-chan, what the hell are you doing here?" Sanji hissed at me. "I told you to run!"

I can feel his glare even though he can't fully see me. I frown; excuse me but I for one didn't want to be left alone in a field of landmines! My ears droop. ...And did you really think I would just leave you like that? Sanji's glare softens but his eyes grow frantic when thundering footsteps are heard.

Thinking quick I dart to the first and easiest hiding place I can get to: Nami's dress. I'm so sorry Nami. Thankfully, Nami doesn't freak out since I'm just hiding in the ruffles and I hear the voice of who I can only assume is Bear King.

"What's your relationship to my fiancé?!" he demands. Fiancé? Really? That's the only reason you took Nami? I can already tell this guy is a new breed of stupid. In fact, all these Trump pirates are stupid; they make Luffy look like a genius. "Answer me you punk!" Bear King yells.

"The relation being that I rubbed lotion onto her bare skin." Sanji answers with a grin. I snort softly but as expected, Bear King isn't amused. He picks up Sanji by his ropes, "We'll crucify and execute this one!" he declares and throws Sanji across the room. I cringe as he hits the wall; I'm glad I got out of there before that happened.

My eyes widen as Boo Jack begins digging his heel into Sanji's back. "You call yourself a pirate?" he taunts. "You're so weak you can't even protect your own crewmates!"

Oh that's it!

"Pika-chan! No!"

Ignoring Nami, I zoom towards Boo Jack, surrounding myself in white energy and slam into him, making him roll and bounce across the room. "Pika-chan…!" Sanji grunts, trying to sit up somehow. I growl as Boo Jack gets to his feet when water suddenly surrounds me in a familiar way.

I turn to see Blonde Lady grinning at me, "Why, it's that rodent from the ship!" she exclaims. "I guess I'll have to finish you off properly...by watching you drown before my eyes." I can see Sanji still struggling on the ground and Nami watching in horror; without a weapon she can't do anything to help. Luckily, I don't need help with this one.

I smirk at Blonde Lady as sparks fly from my cheeks. I relish the moment of panic on her face before I let loose. The orb I'm in fills with electricity and quickly spreads to the rest of her body making her scream in pain. Once I finish the water orb holding me vanishes and she falls to her knees, twitching with lightning. But I'm far from done.

I give her another shock, _'That's for nearly drowning me!'_ I give her another, _'That's for kidnapping Nami!'_ I take a deep breath and give her one more, _'And that's for hurting my partner!'_ I cease my attack and Blonde Lady falls to the ground, burnt to a crisp.

"Pika-chan!" I hear Sanji. "You should know better than to treat a lady like that!" My ears wilt and I growl in annoyance; I defend your honor and this is what I get? You're lucky you're injured or I would discipline you right now!

"Seriously…?" I hear Nami sigh. Boo Jack gets up and I put my game face back on, sparks flying from my cheeks. I have no idea if lightning will work on this punk or Bear King, but it's worth a shot!

"Time for another riddle!" Oh Arceus, not this again! "What is about to be crushed flat?" A vein pops on my head; that's another question you idiot!

I shoot a bolt at Boo Jack but he bounces up and dodges it. "Boo! Wrong!" he sneers. He sails down towards me. "The answer is the stupid yellow pet!"

"Pika-chan!" Sanji exclaims as I narrowly dodge his attack. I suppress a shudder as his large body makes a huge dent in the ground where I was just standing. I'm gonna have to be quick here.

I increase my speed and bolt around the room looking for an opening and make my tail iron. I zoom over and jump at him to strike, but he curls into a ball completely. I hit him, but I don't leave a good enough mark; I'm too small and his armor is too thick!

"Enough!" I hear Bear King roar before I feel something big smack me aside. I fly into the wall with a crash and fall to the ground; that guy swatted me like a fly! "I won't have vermin like this disrupt my wedding!"

"Bastard!" Sanji yells, struggling against his ropes with more vigor.

I wince and slowly get to my feet when I hear the hissing of gas. I look towards the balcony to see a weird skunk guy fly back up and my eyes widen as he dumps an unconscious Usopp onto the ground. "What a pain!" he grouses. "With all that gas he should've been unconscious ages ago!"

I can hear Usopp coughing in pain, making me wince; everything is just going wrong today!

"Crucify and execute him as well along with the blonde one!" Bear King orders, pointing to Sanji who's still tied up on the ground. Skunk Guy nods but Nami runs up to him. She grabs a broom, replacing her staff and swings at Skunk Guy.

I shake the pain off my body and run back towards the fight just as Skunk Guy catches Nami off guard and lunges at her. "Pika pi!" White energy surrounds me as I tackle Skunk Guy, shoving him away from Nami. Nami stumbles back slightly but quickly recovers, getting into a fighting stance behind me.

Skunk Guy gets to his feet and smirks at us, "What exactly are you hoping to accomplish?" he taunts.

"Hey! Let go of me!" I turn at Nami's cry and see Bear King pick her up in his massive hands like a doll. "Careful now; you'll get your dress dirty." he says.

"Pika!" _'Dammit, let her go!'_ I charge at Bear King and harden my tail. I give it the hardest swing I can and slam my tail onto his back. There's a loud clang and I feel my whole body vibrate from the impact. I fall to the ground as Bear King turns to me, still holding Nami, not even fazed. His skin is as hard as rock! What the hell is this?!

Without a word, Bear King's foot collides with my side and I go flying into the wall once again, landing on the hard floor behind the King Cannon. That brought back some bad memories about Kreig, only this time, Sanji wasn't here to pick me up. "That will teach you to mess with the user of the Flint Flint Fruit!" I hear Skunk Guy say.

I gasp softly for breath, trying not to draw attention to myself; I don't think I can handle another huge beatdown, I have to pull myself together so I can save the others! Or at least hold out until Luffy gets here. He said the guy has Flint Flint powers? I guess that involves making your body hard as rock, but that's still a weird name.

I hear a ding, drawing my attention to the back of the room where an elevator is arriving. The elevator opens and a weird swordsman with tons of face paint steps out with an unconscious Zoro over his shoulder. This day just keeps getting better and better…

I watch helplessly as Zoro is crucified next to Sanji. I try to get up again, but I'm just in too much pain! C'mon I've survived Arlong and Krieg beating me up, why is it taking so long for me to get over this?!

I listen as Bear King orders the King Cannon to be fired on my crewmates. He turns to Nami, "Once the execution is complete, you will be the bride of the new King of the Pirates!"

Nami scowls and attempts to kick his head with her high heel. "I'd rather die with my friends than be married to you!" she growls.

Bear King's eyes turn dangerous, "That can be arranged!" He smacks her away, leaving a large mark on her cheek. Before I know it, Nami is tied up and placed on the balcony under Sanji, Usopp and Zoro, the King Cannon aiming at all four of them. No! This can't happen! I grit my teeth and try to get up but my body is only allowing me to move a few inches!

But just before the cannon can fire, something emerges from the ground. It's a big metal cube with a hollow inside; was that supposed to be another elevator? And inside is Borodo, and the elevator's completely blocking the cannon's aim of the others! I grin inwardly; this is my chance. I sneak away as quietly as I can, everyone too distracted by Borodo to notice me and make my way behind the elevator.

"Pika-chan!" Nami exclaims quietly.

Zoro looks down at me from his cross, "You gonna get us out or what?" I simply smile and make my tail iron. A few tail swings later, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp are free. Sanji unties Nami but we flinch when the elevator suddenly receives a giant dent followed by Borodo's pained screams.

"We've got to do something!" Nami exclaims.

"Are you crazy?! We can't take on all of those guys!" Usopp protests. I hate to say it, but he's right. Zoro doesn't have his swords, Usopp doesn't have his slingshot, Sanji can't kick anything anymore without losing a foot, and I've already proven that my attacks don't do squat! If only the Merry was nearby...wait.

I look up and see the very top of the tower about fifteen feet above us. Isn't that where they store all their ships? I tug Usopp's pant leg, "Pika pika." I say pointing to the top of the tower.

Usopp looks up and glances between me and the top. "What?"

I roll my eyes. I bend my ears back into circles and make my eyes wide, trying my best to imitate the face of the Merry.

"Merry?" Usopp asks.

"Pika!" I nod and point to the top of the tower again. "Pika pikachu!"

Usopp's face brighten and he hits his palm with his fist. "Right! Leave it to me!" He takes off and quickly scales the wall, disappearing at the top of the tower. We all watch in anticipation before a pair of black shoes, a folded red staff, and three swords start falling towards us. Everyone catches their respective weapons and don them happily.

"Much better." Zoro says with a grin. We quickly run around the elevator but freeze at the sight. We had arrived just in time to see the swordsman strike Akisu.

"Akisu!" Borodo cries.

"Pika!" I exclaim, feeling sudden concern for the boy as he flies near the wall. Borodo runs towards him when the ground starts to shake.

"What's going on?!" Nami cries.

"E-Earthquake?" Usopp asks frantically. We watch as the floor cracks and multiple rooms start sprouting up out of the ground. I'm confused for a minute, but it eventually becomes clear. Guess who's here? The rooms crash out the window and Luffy springs up. "Finally made it!" he says.

"Luffy!" Nami and Usopp cry happily.

"Took you long enough, idiot." Sanji says with a smirk. Alright, now that everyone's here, the real party can begin. Zoro goes for the swordsman, obviously, Sanji takes on Boo Jack, leaving Usopp with Skunk Guy.

Nami and I turn to Blonde Lady who's finally regained consciousness. I crouch right in front of her face with a grin just as she opens her eyes. She lets out a scream and leaps to her feet. "No! No more lightning!" She turns into liquid again and goes into a pipe but Nami is ready. She takes the end of the pipe and points it into a big jar.

Once she enters the jar, Nami secures it tightly, wrapping tape onto the lid as well. "Oh no, you're not going anywhere!" Nami says with a grin as the jar hops around desperately.

"Pikachu!" I cheer giving Nami a high five. Our victory is short lived as the whole room is shaken by Luffy being thrown into the wall by Bear King. He tries to get back up and punch him again, but Bear King keeps dodging and pounding him into the ground.

At one point, Bear King clenches his fist and it turns red hot; oh so _that's_ why it's called the Flint Flint Fruit!

"Gum Gum…" Luffy stretches his fist towards him again but ends up hitting the red fist. Luffy yelps and yanks his arm away, "That was a bad idea!"

"It's over rubber man!" Bear King comes at him again, raising his iron hot arm.

"BEAR KING!" We all turn to see Borodo behind the wheel of the King Cannon. The cannon fires and a giant bullet shoots towards Bear King. The giant narrowly dodges and it flies out into the water, causing a huge impact that we can see from all the way up here. Sheesh, that it one lethal weapon! "The next one won't miss!" Borodo growls, revving the cannon up again.

"Bastard!" Bear King pulls out a pistol. "Keep away from my King Cannon!" He fires the pistol and it heads straight for Borodo, but then-

"NO!" Akisu leaps right in front of the bullet. My eyes widen as it hits his chest with a loud bang and sends him flying.

"Pika!" I run to the back of the cannon and use it to jump after Akisu in the air as he smashes right through the glass windows. I grab the back of his shirt and spy a piece of iron jutting out from the broken windows. Flashes of the Calm Belt come to my mind; I'm not gonna miss this time! I stretch out my tail and hinge it on the iron, still holding Akisu's shirt tightly. We swing dangerously, but I manage to keep hold.

"Akisu!" I look down to see Borodo below us.

I feel Akisu stir and open his eyes, "I'm a real man of the sea now…" he says softly before passing out again. I carefully begin to swing on the iron and fling Akisu towards Borodo as gently as I can. Luckily he catches Akisu and lays him down on the ground. I unhinge my tail and safely land as Borodo checks over Akisu. He seems to be okay at first glance but I don't see any blood; wasn't he shot?

Akisu grins and reaches under his shirt, pulling out an iron plate, "It wasn't that bad…" he says.

Borodo and I both smile in relief. "You had me worried there…"

"Pikachu…" _'You sneaky little brat...'_

"Borodo." Luffy says suddenly. "Get Akisu out of here." he orders, glaring down Bear King. "I'm gonna make this bastard pay!"

Borodo slowly nods and carefully picks up Akisu; he jumps off the edge of the tower and unfurls a parachute, allowing them to float safely to the ground below. The moment they're safely out of range, Luffy charges at Bear King. The giant holds up his molten arm again but it doesn't hinder Luffy this time. He grabs the arm, despite the pain, and hurls Bear King across the room, knocking over the King Cannon and making the whole back end of the room break. Water even falls from the top where the boats were docked but I don't see Merry among the falling boats, thank Arceus.

"How dare you…" Bear King growls and tilts the King Cannon upright again. "Now you'll be the next victim of the King Cannon!" Luffy charges at Bear King again and the cannon fires.

"Luffy!" We all yell as he grabs the bullet and wraps his legs around a piece of the wall that's still standing. It looks like he's pinning with the bullet, twisting his upper body along with it.

Bear King is stunned, "What the-!"

"GUM GUM…" Luffy begins to sling back towards Bear King, the giant bullet in tow and spinning faster and faster. "...SCREW!"

The bullet hits Bear King square in the chest and Luffy lets go, falling to the ground. The bullet drives both Bear King and the King Cannon into the ground, breaking the glass floor and exploding, disrupting the giant key below us. The key tips over and the whole tower begins to rock with explosions.

"What's going on?" Sanji asks.

"Oh no…" Nami breathes. "The island's key!"

"Key?" Sanji asks.

"If that key is broken the whole island will be destroyed!" Nami explains frantically. "We need to get out of here, now!" Nami throws Luffy's hat back to its owner. "Let's go!"

I scamper over to Sanji and leap onto his shoulder as we quickly climb up to the very top of the tower where the Merry is waiting along with Usopp. After he won his fight he had stolen a large parachute from one of the other ships up there to attach to the Merry.

Apparently that was the only way to get the ship off this island. Wait to think ahead, Usopp! But as we start getting the parachute ready, a familiar melody chimes loudly through the air. My ears twitch and I leap onto the railing of the Merry to hear it better. This sounds like…

"It sounds like Akisu's music box." Luffy says, completing my thought.

"That's the Diamond Clock…" Nami says in awe.

Wait...if the Diamond Clock here sounds like Akisu's music box...then that must mean-!

The song stops abruptly and the whole island starts to shake. I cling to the railing as the tower crumbles and the whole island disappears beneath us. Thankfully, we open the parachute and we safely float down to the sea along with the islanders who all had their own parachutes ready. These guys really are prepared! After what feels like hours, the whole island is completely gone, leaving only a giant pile of rubble on the base.

The islanders all take over the Trump Pirates ships (very easily since they didn't have their Devil Fruit users) and begin tending to any injured, including us. Zoro didn't have any large injuries this time, just minor cuts; I'd call going through a fight without losing a pint of blood an achievement.

Nami and Usopp had no real injuries, Luffy only really needed burn medicine out of anything, but Sanji's feet were nearly mummified in bandages. The doctor told him that he would need to take it easy on his feet for a while, but that rule applied to fighting more than anything; walking was still fine.

And me? I just needed a few antibiotics; I got a few bruises from when Bear King smacked me around, but they weren't that bad, especially compared to the one Kreig gave me way back when! And I was just glad that he didn't hit the spot where Sicko had sliced me; that would've been painful.

We spend a day recovering and on the day we're about to leave, I spot Akisu with that lady scientist from before. Borodo had filled us in that Clockwork Island was in fact Akisu's home. His parents, the scientists had sent him away in order to protect him from the Trump Pirates when they took over seven years ago.

I watch as the lady scientist kneels towards Akisu, "Oh dear, you're bleeding." she says but Akisu pulls away.

"I'm fine; I'm a brave man of the sea now!" he says indignantly. The lady pulls away but Akisu grabs her hand. He stares at her intently. "...Mom…" he says softly. Tears begin to fall from both his face and his mother's. "Your hands...are so warm Mommy…"

The two pull each other into a tight embrace as Akisu begins sobbing loudly. I smile warmly at the sight; even though his home had been destroyed, he had managed to find his family.

Family…

My smile fades as the figures flash through my head once again, still showing no signs of revealing their identity. Were those figures...my family? Do I...even have a family?

I turn away from Akisu and his mom, feeling envy creep into my entire being. Everywhere I go seems to remind me of what I've lost. Its as if the world wants to constantly rub salt in the wound by reminding me of what I don't have.

My home...

My family...

Will I ever find them?

We start to set sail, floating next to Borodo for a while until we had to part ways. Borodo was planning to leave Akisu with his parents, but the boy wasn't having any of that. He snuck aboard Borodo's ship, ready to steal with him once more. As he bravely put it: "I'm a brave man of the sea now! And we're the Thief Brothers, aren't we?"

I sit on Sanji's shoulder and we both grin, "Once you find your partner, you're stuck with them, no matter what."

"Pikachu!" I agree. I've never heard something more true in my life. So don't ever tell me to run away and leave you again Sanji, cause I won't do it!

We begin to sail on our way, away from the Thief Brothers as they bicker over who gets what share of the treasure from the Trump Pirates.

"Hey! Pika-chan!" My ears twitch and I turn towards the shrinking boat. I squint to see Akisu waving at me. "Good luck finding your home!" My eyes widen at his words.

I slowly smile and wave back. "Pika pikachu!" I call, swallowing the lump in my throat. Sanji scratches me behind the ears and we all look ahead at the open sea; it's finally time for our adventure to continue.

"Alright! Let's go!" Luffy proclaims. "To the Grand Line!"

* * *

 **Whew! I think I've given you enough story to last about a month! XD (ten thousand words OMG!)**

 **But hey, while you wait for the next chapter you could take the opportunity to watch the movie again! Just a suggestion!**


	24. The Red Line

Rest and relaxation at last! After that Clockwork Island fiasco, we all deserve a good break before we get to the Grand Line. No Marines or idiotic pirates anywhere to beat us up; just clear skies and calm ocean as far as the eye can see. Well, except for that major cloud coverage up ahead. Looks like a storm's on its way. I'm hoping that it's more rain than lightning; I'm a bit wary about it since the last time I tried to absorb lightning.

But on the bright side, we're finally back on course and according to Nami we're getting close to the entrance of the Grand Line. I gaze at the map on her shoulder and look where she is. It looks like a mountain is right in the middle of the Grand Line as well as a giant wall called the Red Line. So we have to go to a wall in order to get there?

After a while, Nami calls us all inside the galley and opens the map on the table. I jump off her shoulder and sit on the table. "Listen up!" Nami places her hand on the map. "I know this sounds crazy, but the map is clear; the entrance to the Grand Line is through a mountain." My ears perk up; a mountain? So you're saying we have to climb a mountain to get there, ship and all?

"Sounds like fun!" Luffy says. Of course it does…

"What are you talking about; a ship can't climb a mountain." Zoro scoffs.

"Hey! Anyone notice that the rudder's stuck?" Usopp demands. I look over at him and he's right; that thing isn't moving and Usopp's trying everything in his power to move it. That's weird… I get up and trot over to him, looking over the tiller. It's not budging, almost like something froze it in place. I know the thing is heavy but this seems really off.

"Sanji would you give Usopp a hand?" Nami says irritably. "I can't think with all his yelling…"

"Right away Nami~!" Sanji chimes and moves to the rudder. This guy is quickly becoming Nami's personal slave…

"Does the current seem a bit strong to you guys?" Usopp asks. Hmm...I don't like this…

I quietly trot out of the galley and jump onto the railing as the dark storm clouds have already covered the blue sky. I don't feel a whole lot of lightning, so that's good. But what I can feel is an ominous feeling in the air, like something big is coming our way and fast. I frown slightly as I make my to the front of the ship and jump onto Merry's head to get a better insight on what I'm feeling.

I gaze at the empty ocean ahead of us; whatever's waiting for us up ahead, we better be ready for it, no matter what. After a few moments, the sky opens and rain starts to fall. I crouch on the Merry's head and squint through the rain and building fog. The wind isn't too bad and the sea isn't very rough, so hopefully we'll be able to find our way just fine.

Sanji and Luffy fold the sails when something tall begins to come into sight. I strain my eyesight and my eyes widen; it's a wall! That has to be it! "Pika pika!" I call, pointing ahead.

Luffy looks down at me and looks ahead as well. "Hey! I can see the mystery mountain!" he calls. We all stare up at it in amazement; that is one big mountain!

"I...I can't see the top!" Usopp exclaims. "It's higher than the clouds!" We all grab onto something as the boat suddenly rocks. The ocean is going crazy and beating against the cliffs of the mountain wildly. I can even see the water swirling like whirlpools near it!

"Hold the rudder steady!" Luffy yells. Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp run inside to man the tiller. "Nami! Which way?" Luffy yells. "If this keeps up we're gonna crash!"

I crawl forward a few inches on Merry and wipe the rain out of my eyes. I gaze ahead as the wall comes ever closer and I spy what looks like a giant crack in the mountain. "Pika!" I turn back and call for Nami.

She rushes over to me, "What is it?" she asks. "See anything?"

I point towards the crack, "Pika pika!" I respond.

Nami follows my paw and her eyes widen, "That must be it!" she exclaims. She runs back to the upper deck, "Keep bearing straight ahead!" she yells.

"What?! You can't be serious!" Usopp yells.

"Trust me!" Nami responds.

Luffy joins her on the upper deck, "Is that the entrance?"

"Most likely!" Nami answers. My eyes widen in awe as we draw closer to the entrance. A bunch of water gates stand before us and the current is quickly sliding up the mountain. The ocean is literally climbing the mountain, who would've guessed?

"We have to get through those water gates just right or we'll be smashed to pieces!" Nami yells. I jump off Merry's head so I'm not blocking anyone's view and stand near the mast as the ship begins to veer away from the entrance.

"We're drifting off course!" Luffy yells. "Go to the right! The right!" I grip the mast fearfully as the ship slowly begins to go to the right when there's a loud snap followed by a crash. That can't be good! I look up to see that the tiller has completely snapped off, sending Sanji and Usopp into the table.

"THE RUDDER!" I stare at the entrance; the side is gonna smash right into the gate!

"Gum Gum…" Luffy throws his hat to Zoro and runs towards the front of the ship. "Balloon!" He inflates himself and puts himself right between Merry and the gate. I watch in anticipation as the Merry slowly rolls with Luffy until it finally bounces off and moves properly into the middle of the current. Luffy stretches his arm and grabs Zoro's, helping to sling him back onto the boat and Nami and I sigh in relief while Sanji and Usopp cheer in the back.

The rain stops as quickly as it came and Nami takes off her rain jacket, "Now it's just a straight shot to the summit!" she cheers. I quickly rush up to the head of the Merry and jump onto the railing next to Zoro.

Luffy comes up a few seconds later along with everyone else. "Wow! What a view!" Luffy comments. We all stare ahead in awe and slight relief when my ears twitch.

We all seem to get the same sensation because we all turn to see...Sicko standing on the railing?! What the hell?! I thought Luffy sent him flying! Has he been on the ship this whole time?! He spouts some nonsense about how he can never get Dragonite and how he's gonna kill us but luckily, Nami has a foolproof plan.

"Hey, is that Dragonite?" One kick later, Sicko has vanished under the rushing currents. Thank you Nami! Now we know he won't be causing us anymore trouble!

Now where were we? Oh yeah, sailing up the mountain to enter the Grand Line! We eventually rise above the clouds and the top of the mountain comes into view. I sit on Merry's head in front of Luffy as we near the top.

"This is insane!" Luffy cries happily.

"Pikachu!" I agree. My eyes widen as I see the water spray up at the top. Because we're so high, the water that's spraying is freezing instantly, creating waves upon waves of sparkling ice. It's so beautiful! I surprisingly don't get any memory flashes from this, so I take the opportunity to enjoy the scenery. We finally reach the summit and the Merry flies into the air.

Luffy laughs as we look back to see the tall hill we had left behind. We're so high it feels like we're on top of the world! We all probably forgot that we were in the air because we all yell out in shock when we sharply begin to drop.

It catches me off guard, making me fly high above Luffy. I flail in the air for a bit as I fly back from the wind when I catch Sanji's eye. He holds out his arm and I quickly latch onto it, landing on his shoulder when the Merry returns to the water with a splash. We all hold on tight as we begin to descend down the steep hill on the other side of the mountain.

I stare at the blue skies ahead of us; this is it, the Grand Line is within our grasp! Somewhere in that amazing but dangerous ocean is a clue to my past, to where I came from! My home...my family...my memories...they're all waiting for me at the bottom of this mountain! I don't know when or where I'll find them, but I won't give up until I finally remember who I am!

We re-enter the clouds as the strong wind blows against us. Sanji climbs up on the net towards the Crow's Nest to expose us more to the rushing air. "This is great!" Sanji exclaims.

"Pika pika!" I laugh as a feeling of adrenaline rushes through me. Combined with the feeling of excitement and adventure waiting for us, I feel like I'm going to burst! All of a sudden, my ears twitch and I hear a low sound, like a low horn. What the heck was that? Was I just imagining that?

...No, I hear it again! What is that? It sounds like a few others heard it too. I look ahead and squint through all the clouds when something begins to take shape up ahead. It looks big...round...and black. I tap Sanji on the shoulder, "Pika!" I shout over the wind.

"What is it?" Sanji responds loudly.

"Pika pi, pikachu!" I yell, pointing up ahead.

Sanji follows my gaze and his eyes widen, "Nami! There's a mountain up ahead!" he yells.

"That's impossible!" Nami responds. "After we pass the Twin Capes up ahead there should be nothing but ocean!"

"But it's right there, we can see it!" Sanji protests.

"Pika pika!" I chime in, pointing along with him.

"Who cares?!" Luffy yells over the wind, "Let's go!" However, that low sound echoes around us again catching everyone's attention this time. I wince at the sound; is it just me, or is it getting louder?

The clouds finally clear and sure enough, that mountain is right in front of us at the very bottom of the hill! We all scream in shock as the ride suddenly became a death trap; how are we supposed to get around that?! And what even is it?!

"It's a black wall!" Luffy yells.

"No it isn't!" Nami responds.

"Then what is it?!" Zoro demands.

Usopp looks through his scope and pales considerably. "I-It's a whale!" he yells.

Are you serious?! That thing is a whale?! It can't be! That thing is about a hundred times bigger than a full grown Wailord! Nothing can be that big! I don't have time to think about the newest word I just remembered (better add that to the list along with Seaking and Snorlax) as the whale draws closer. The low noise from before is heard again, and it's a lot louder now. It's so loud to my sensitive hearing it almost makes me drop off Sanji.

"W-What do we do?!" Usopp wails.

"Should we fight?" Luffy asks.

"How can we fight a hundred ton whale?!" Nami demands.

"Calm down!" Sanji yells. "If this creature looks like a wall to us, we must be a speck!"

Nami brightens, "Yeah, it's possible that it doesn't even know we're here!" she agrees.

"Yeah but we'll crash into it at this rate!" Zoro adds. "We can get by on the left! Turn hard to port!"

"Did you forget that the rudder's broken?!" Usopp demands.

"Just do something!" Zoro yells. Sanji jumps down from the net and I leap down onto the lower deck while he and Zoro join Usopp in the galley to help with the rudder. I look around anxiously for anything I can do to help, but nothing can slow us down in time!

Luffy runs below deck and I grip the mast in fear. The ship isn't turning and that whale is right on top of us! This isn't good! I crouch down and cover my head with a frightened squeal, bracing for impact when-

BOOM!

I hear cannonfire and I'm suddenly thrown forward. I roll on the deck for a moment until I get my bearings along with everyone else. Did someone just shoot the cannon? I look inside the open door to see Luffy standing proudly by the smoking weapon, "Done!" he proclaims with triumph.

I watch as the ship slows and just barely taps the whale, or, it felt like a tap to us. I squeak and leap out of the way as Merry's head crashes onto the deck right where I was standing.

"Nooo!" Luffy yells in horror. "That was my special seat!" Luffy, I think that's the least of our worries!

I look up and cower as I see just how big this whale really is. Holy mother of Kyogre, that thing is freaking monstrous! (Yet another word to add to my list of mystery words.) If Sanji and the others are specks to this thing, I'm probably so small I don't even exist! If that thing moved an inch we'd probably capsize! Luckily, it doesn't seem to realize that we're here.

Everyone looks nervous, even Zoro! "Let's get out of here before it's too late!" he yells. The boys take up the paddles we quickly begin making our way around the whale in a panicked frenzy. The loud low noise rumbles through the air once again when we near its eye. I crouch down and scream, covering my ears. That's so freaking loud it feels like my head's gonna pop off!

"Hurry! Just keep paddling!" Usopp yells. I'm nearly deaf when the sound finally stops; I never wanna hear that again for as long as I live! Luffy suddenly steps up near the eye. I don't know what he said, but it was probably something stupid as he punched the whale right in the eye a few seconds later. We all watch as the eye abruptly looks down at us. I think it's safe to say that we're in big trouble now. My ears are still ringing and in pain but I'm pretty sure everyone's screaming in fear right about now. The whale opens its mouth and lets out a huge roar, ten times louder than before.

My eyes widen for a split second before squeezing shut and I let out another pained scream. I'm surprised I'm not completely deaf yet! Everything's blurry and spinning and the boat is being yanked towards something. I stumble across the deck, my ears still ringing loudly and I hit something. That something turns out to be Luffy and the next thing I know, we're falling towards the ocean.

I manage to get a few of my thoughts back and I grab onto Luffy's vest as he stretches his arm and latches onto a giant tooth. Wait...tooth? Oh Arceus...are we in the whale's mouth?! Are we being eaten?! I cling tighter to Luffy as he climbs the whale's head; my hearing slowly starts to come back as I hear rushing water and screaming.

Suddenly, everything goes quiet and Luffy and I are sitting on top of the whale. I tap my ears as my hearing begins to fully function once again just in time for Luffy to stiffen in horror, "Oh man...they've all been swallowed whole!"

My eyes widen and I jump to my feet, "Pika?!" Oh Arceus...Sanji, Nami, Usopp, and Zoro...they've all been eaten!

Luffy springs up and begins punching the whale, "Hey! You stupid whale, can you hear me?!" he yells. "Spit them out, give back our friends!"

"Pika! Pika pi, pikachu!" I yell, hitting the whale's smooth skin as hard as I can with my tiny paws. _'Let Sanji, Nami, and the others go you stupid Wailord!'_

Luffy and I both cry out as the whale starts to move and sink into the ocean. Oh crap, we're screwed now! I immediately start to frantically look for a way off the whale when my eyes land on something weird. Is that...a door on the whale's back…? Do whale's like this have doors on them? Ah we'll question it later; we have to move now!

I tug on Luffy's shorts as he's still yelling at the whale until I finally get his attention. I silently point to the door and Luffy looks just as confused as me, but only for a split second. He grabs me, throws the door open, jumps inside, and closes it just in the nick of time. We both deflate in relief, "That was close…" Luffy breathes.

"Pika…" I agree, climbing onto his shoulder.

"Now where are we?" Luffy and I take a look around and both our faces become the epitome of confusion. We're...in a hallway...a lighted hallway...inside a whale… "Uh...I don't know much about whales, but since when do they have doors and lighted hallways?" Luffy asks.

My ears wilt, "Pika pi…" _'Your guess is as good as mine...'_

Luffy sighs, "Well, guess we better find the ship." I nod and Luffy starts walking down the hallway. I hope Sanji and the others are alright… We walk for a while, the hallway not changing whatsoever when the whale roars again. Thankfully, it's not as loud since we're inside, the hallway begins to move and shift violently.

Luffy and I both scream as we're thrown down the hallway, bouncing off walls and tumbling through the air. I get so dizzy that I let go of Luffy, but the momentum of the hallway keeps us together until we finally land on solid ground. We both sluggishly sit up, our heads spinning like crazy.

"So dizzy…" Luffy murmurs.

"Pika…" Once our sight comes back we take a look around. Looks like we've landed in an even bigger hallway, and there's...water?

"The whale has river in it too?" Luffy wonders.

"Pikachu." I say with a shrug. It's like we're in a sewer system or something; what kind of whale is this? The area starts shaking again and we start to slide on the floor. We both get to our feet and try to run upwards, but it's getting too steep too fast! We both fall again, but thankfully we don't start spinning or hitting walls like before.

I latch onto Luffy as the ground suddenly levels out again and Luffy's literally hits the ground running. The ground is still slightly downhill making Luffy speed up greatly. "Pika pika!" I yell, holding onto his vest with all my might. _'Slow down, idiot!'_

"I can't stooooooop!" Luffy shrieks and he continues running down the hall at light speed. All I can do is hold on for dear life. After a few moments, a wall comes into view as well as a door; please let that be the way out! Both our eyes widen as we see two people in front of the door; we're gonna crash! I squeeze my eyes shut and brace for impact as Luffy slams right into them.

We all tumble into the door making it fly open and we're suddenly soaring through open skies. Wait a minute, I thought we were inside a whale! I have so many questions right now!

"Hey Zoro!" Luffy's yell catches my attention. "Is everyone okay?!" My eyes widen as the Merry is floating safely on a pool of green water that stretches below us.

"No! We're going to fall into gastric acid!" One of the guy;s we ran into yells. Gastric acid?! What?!

"That doesn't sound good…" Luffy mutters. My eyes widen as he plucks me off his shoulder. Oh no... "Sanji! Catch!"

I scream as I'm flung through the air towards the ship. _'Not agaaaaaain!'_

"Dammit Luffy, what is it with you throwing my partner?!" Sanji runs up and catches me with ease while Luffy and the two others land in the water, or acid I guess, with a splash. I deflate with exhaustion in Sanji's arms.

Can this day get any more hectic?

* * *

 **I'm sensing a theme between Pika-chan and Luffy...**


	25. Laboon

Once we fished Luffy and the two other guys out of the water/acid, things escalated quite quickly. Those two guys tried to shoot the whale open with their cannon guns but this weird old man with a flower on his head took both shots. Long story short, Luffy hit them, we tied them up on the old man's island-ship (his name, we found out, is Crocus) and we're trying to get answers out of them.

All we got was that they're trying to hunt this whale for its meat. If you can believe it, this monster actually has a name; Laboon. Apparently, he's a rare breed from the West Blue called an Island Whale; gee, I wonder where the name comes from?

We listen as Crocus explains that Laboon was actually friends with a group of pirates as a baby. When they came down Reverse Mountain, they decided to leave Laboon with Crocus while they went to explore the Grand Line. That makes sense; the Grand Line is supposed to be really dangerous and it would be difficult if not impossible to keep a defenseless baby whale safe. The pirates apparently promised Laboon that when their journey was complete, they would come back to him; that was the only way they could get him to stay here and not follow.

But fifty years have already passed and Laboon has gotten restless. I don't blame him; I don't think I could bear waiting fifty years! The constant anticipation and worry that your friends are miles away with no way to contact then and you have no idea if they're even still alive...that would drive anyone crazy. I gotta say, Laboon is one faithful friend; he's been waiting all this time and hasn't given up hope that they'll come back. That's one strong promise.

The figures in my head suddenly flash in my sight again, only this time a few of the smaller ones seem a bit more prominent. If my home is out there somewhere...are they still waiting for me? I don't know how long I've been gone so...do they think I'm even still alive? Do they have faith that I'll come back someday? Are any of my friends and family...even still around?

Crocus opens a door that leads out of Laboon's stomach (don't ask me how he managed to do that) and we're back out on the ocean. Thank Arceus!

I look at Usopp and notice that he seems a bit thoughtful. He glances down at me and looks up at Laboon, "What do you think Pika-chan?" he suddenly asks.

"Pika?"

"Fifty years? How could they leave Laboon alone for so long like that?"

"Idiot." Sanji scoffs. "This is the Grand Line, his friends are dead." Geez, don't sugarcoat it…

"I hate to say it, but that's probably true." Nami agrees. "Back when those pirates sailed the Grand Line it was uncharted territory; way more dangerous than it is today."

Usopp growls. "Why are you being so pessimistic, you don't know that!" he exclaims. "They could still come back for him! I mean, he's believed in that promise for all these years! That's a true bond!"

A true bond… I can't help but look at Sanji when he says that.

"Indeed." Crocus says. "But reality is a cruel thing." He turns away solemnly. "The truth is Laboon's cohorts abandoned their quest; they left the Grand Line." My eyes widen in horror; how could they do such a thing? They could've at least come back for poor Laboon; wasn't it ten times crueler to just abandon him without even a sign to let him know that they were alive?

A thought suddenly pops into my head: what if I were in Laboon's position? What if Luffy and Sanji and everyone had to leave me behind and I had to wait for them? Would I have the same faith as Laboon? Would I be able to wait over fifty years for them to come back without giving into the possible reality that they might be dead? ...Would Sanji and the others forget about me and just leave me?

I flinch as I feel Sanji's hand gently pat my head and scratch my ears. "So you're telling me these pirates were a bunch of cowards who cared more about saving their own asses than keeping a promise to a friend?" I feel his hand tense ever so slightly as I feel anger nearly radiate off him as he says the last part of that sentence. Was he thinking the same thing I was?

"How could they abandon such a loyal creature?" Usopp demands. "That's just beyond cruel!"

I clench my jaw as I stare at the ground. The more I think about it, I don't think I'd ever be as strong as Laboon if this happened to me. I mean...I already lost my memories of my family which to me is the equivalent of losing them...I don't know what I'd do if I lost any of my friends here.

"Why haven't you told Laboon any of this?" Nami asks.

"I did, down to the last miserable detail." Crocus answers. Apparently, Laboon flat out refused to accept that they weren't coming back for him. That was when he started banging his head against the Red Line, as if by destroying that wall he'll be able to reunite with his friends again.

Poor Laboon… There's no way for him to go back to his home in the West Blue so his friends are all he has left. If he admits they're dead that means he's giving up on them. All he wants is to see them and live with them again. And Crocus is the only thing keeping Laboon alive through all this, by tending to the wounds he receives when he beats the Red Line.

All of a sudden we hear Luffy yelling out. We all turn to see him running up Laboon while carrying the main mast of the ship. Uh, Luffy? We kinda need that... We watch as he runs up to a fresh wound on Laboon's head and plunges the mast right into it. I visibly cringe; that's gotta hurt!

"Luffy, stop tearing up the ship!" Usopp yells. Suddenly, Laboon lets out a loud roar and begins thrashing in the water. I fall of the railing with a scream, my ears numbing once again. I feel someone pick me up to keep me from stumbling off the ship again while everyone yells for Luffy to stop.

The ship rocks wildly as Laboon takes a flying leap into the air and slams his head right onto the cape, throwing Luffy and the mast off. "The boy! He's dead!" Crocus yells.

"It'll take a lot more than that to kill Luffy!" Nami reassures him. You can say that again. Thankfully, Laboon stops roaring, allowing my hearing to reassess itself and we all watch as Luffy begins to fight Laboon.

"You want to let us in on your plan before you kill yourself?" Zoro demands.

Luffy is thrown against the lighthouse and Laboon begins to charge him. "It's a draw!" Laboon stops in his tracks and Luffy gets to his feet. "I'm stronger than I look, but I have a feeling you knew that already." he says with a grin. "I can tell when someone's itching to fight; you miss sparring with your old friends, don't you?" A smile slowly comes to my face as tears begin to form in the whale's eyes.

"How about this? After my friends and I travel the Grand Line, we'll come back for you; and you better be ready for a rematch!" Laboon raises his head and lets out a gentle call of happiness. Compared to his roar from earlier, this is soothing.

I shake my head to get my hearing back together and sit up in Usopp's arms (turns out he was the one who grabbed me earlier). We just made a promise to a whale… I'm sure this won't be the strangest thing we've ever done. At least this time, I'm certain that we're gonna keep our promise and come back to see Laboon.

There's no way we're gonna put him through that again.

* * *

Once everything has calmed down, Luffy paints a big skull on Laboon's head. He said it was a symbol of the promise he made to him. Geez, it always blows my mind whenever Luffy does something smart like this! Not only does it reassure Laboon even more of our keeping that promise but it also gives him a reason to not hit his head against the Red Line!

While Usopp starts repairing the mast, we notice that those two weird poacher guys had gotten away. Ah well, guess it's out of our hands now. I doubt that Laboon will let them kill him now that he's cheered up. I blink as a gleam of sunlight catches my eye and I look on the deck to see where it's coming from. There's something on the deck, like a bracelet.

I walk towards it and pick it up; it's...some sort of weird clock looking thing. It has a leather strap and a glass ball on top and inside is a needle like a compass. Only there's no directions written on the face like North, East or West. My curiosity grows as the red end of the needle is strictly facing one direction and refuses to change no matter how much I move. Did those poacher guys drop this? And what even is it?

I hear footsteps and turn to see Luffy coming towards me. He looks down at me and crouches down to look at the object I'm holding. "What's that?" he asks.

"Pika." I shrug.

He takes it and looks at it closely. "Huh, I don't know." he says. "Ah well." He puts it in his pocket and walks away. Maybe Nami will know something about it, but we can ask later. I think it's about lunchtime, isn't it?

I trot into the galley to see Sanji getting ready too. I jump onto the counter, catching his eye as he takes out his frying pans. Sanji takes off his jacket and rolls up his sleeves, "Since we've just about entered the Grand Line, I say a special lunch is in order."

My ears twitch and I smile in anticipation. "Pika?" _'You mean…?'_

Sanji grins and I follow him down to the freezer in the galley and he opens the door. A familiar giant blue fish slides out along with the ice that's been keeping it fresh all this time. "Don't think we've forgotten about you, Elephant Bluefin Tuna."

"Pika pika!" I squeal. This is it! We're finally gonna cook it! I never thought I'd be this excited to cook something! I guess it helps that this is beauty is a rare gem and is supposed to be called a 'miracle food'. I seriously can't wait to taste it!

"I imagine you want in on this, right?" Sanji asks me.

"Pi pika pi!" I exclaim. _'Is that a trick question?'_

Sanji nods. "Alright, if you can make a decent meal with Apis, lets see how well you can help me cook."

"Pika pikachu!" I cheer. Let's do this!

Sanji hauls the fish back up the galley and we get out all the necessary appliances and ingredients. Sanji lays out his array of knives and picks the best one suited for the job. "This guy has a lot of meat on it, so we'll have to make sure we don't leave anything behind."

Guess that means even the bones and guts are getting used; should've figured. At least Sanji makes all the disgusting bits taste awesome. Wait...he doesn't want to leave anything behind…? Does that mean-! I stare at him in shock; we're gonna cook the whole thing in one go?! Wouldn't it be smarter to save some of it? Especially considering that our captain is a greedy bottomless pit?

I know I said I was excited about cooking this thing, but this fish is a rarity! We won't be able to find another fish like this probably in our lifetime! I don't want this to be a one-time thing, I want it to last for as long as possible!

Sanji doesn't seem to take note of this and begins deboning the fish. Alright, since I know for a fact that this is going to come back and bite us in the ass, I'm going to do something about it! I glance back and see that the door to frozen storage is still open. I'm gonna have to be really quick here.

I wait until a Sanji slices off a few giant slices of meat and then, when he's not looking, I strike. I grab the meat, zoom to storage, throw it into the freezer, and zoom back. Rinse and repeat, until about a third of the fish is safely back in the freezer. I'd say that's about enough for a proper meal or two as long as we keep it away from Luffy.

Sanji and I start getting out the oil and spices when he looks at the meat he gathered. "Huh, I thought this thing had more meat on it…" I freeze and try my absolute hardest to keep a poker face. To my relief, Sanji just shrugs, "Oh well, must be my imagination."

Trust me Sanji, you're gonna thank me later. Plus, you're cooking the head too; honestly that's all you should be serving considering how big it is alone! Our crew is tiny, this whole fish should last us for a week at most! Now that that has been taken care of, I can finally focus on cooking.

I hand Sanji the spices he asks for and he eventually gives me a little bowl to mix the oil and spices together. I diligently stir, making the spices dissolve into the oily substance; I can already taste the flavor it's gonna bring.

"Knife." Sanji says. Without stopping, I flip the knife into the air with my foot and whack it with my tail. It sails through the air like a dart for a split second before Sanji catches it by the handle and starts cutting without missing a beat. Wow, we're more in sync than I thought!

Soon, the fish is roasted to perfection, with just the right amount of oil and spices to bring out the flavor. "Now for the test." Sanji says, holding two forks with a bit of the meat on the tinges.

I take my fork and we both place the meat in our mouths. My eyes widen and my ears perk up as flavor explodes in my mouth. I don't even know how to describe it. My teeth sink into the tender meat and I savor every moment; I'm almost sad when I have to swallow it. I squeal in absolute joy, placing my paws on my cheeks; that was the greatest experience ever!

"Now that's what I call a miracle food." Sanji says, a look of pure bliss on his face.

"Pikachu!" I never thought food could put me a good mood, but it happened! I am so glad I snuck those big pieces of fish back to the freezer! I want to relive that experience more than anything!

Sanji balances two giant plates full of fish meat (still too much if you ask me...maybe I should've swiped more…), and we're heading back out to the lighthouse when Nami lets out a shriek. Oh Arceus, what now?

We all head back up to the cape (with the exception of Zoro who's sleeping...lazy bastard…) and Nami's gazing at her map and compass in horror. "The compass is broken! It just keeps spinning!" she cries. I jump onto the table and see that she's right. The compass is just spinning nonstop in a circle without any sign of stopping. It's like it has no idea which way is up anymore.

"Did you all come here to die?" We look up as Crocus comes towards us. "It seems none of you have the slightest idea how things work around here!" Well, don't keep us in suspense old man, what are we missing?

Apparently the Grand Line is surrounded by some kind of weird magnetic field that affects normal compasses; ours isn't broken, it's just useless here. I gnaw on a small piece of Bluefin along with Luffy (though in my defense I'm not trying to devour the whole head) as Crocus explains that nothing in the Grand Line is constant; not current, weather or anything.

In order to navigate through this hellish ocean we'll need something called a Log Pose. "You mean this thing?" Luffy asks with his mouth full, holding up the strange bracelet I found.

"Exactly. Only a fool would try to sail the Grand Line without one." Crocus confirms. Wow, lucky find!

Nami gives Luffy a hard punch. "Why didn't you tell me you had one of those Log things?!" she demands.

"Pika-chan found it, not me!" Luffy whines, pointing at me. Oh no, don't you drag me into this! "Those two weirdos must've dropped it!"

"Is that true, Pika-chan?" Nami asks me. I nod without hesitation and she seems to believe me.

"Why'd you hit me?" Luffy asks.

"Felt like it." Nami responds. Alright then… Nami examines the Log Pose and Crocus explains that the Log Pose records the level of magnetism on an island before resetting to a new route after a set period of time.

Basically, wherever the Log Pose points, that's where we have to go, no questions asked. And eventually, all the islands lead to an island called Raftel, the most mysterious island on the Grand Line, confirmed to exist by the King of the Pirates himself that no one else has ever been able to find. If anything, that's got to be where this One Piece is.

Luffy sighs in content, "Well, I'm satisfied; ready to head out?"

"I told you, that was for everyone!" Sanji yells.

"He...even ate the bones!" Usopp chokes in astonishment.

I sigh as I swallow my last bit of Bluefin and stare at the empty platters. I don't want to say 'I told you so', but I can't because you wouldn't understand a word. Good thing I was the only one to have a backup plan.

Sanji gets to his feet, anger blazing in his eyes. "You greedy, bottomless pit!" And he gives Luffy a hard kick to the stomach. Unfortunately, Sanji kicks him so hard Luffy flies past Nami, shattering the Log Pose.

Well, we're screwed.

I smartly cower behind the table, hoping to be spared Nami's wrath. It was nice knowing you Sanji…

One monster kick later, Crocus offers his own Log Pose, "It's the least I can do for helping Laboon." he says. Oh thank Arceus, we aren't screwed! Speaking of Laboon, he just dumped Sanji and Luffy back onto land; pretty coordinated for a whale. My ears perk up as I notice two others nearby. It's those whale hunters! I scowl at them and get into offensive stance if this gets ugly but Sanji helps the lady to her feet. Ugh…

"Hey," The guy wearing the crown speaks up. "We need a favor." I would shock them both right then and there, but Luffy decides to at least hear them out; fair enough I guess.

Long story short, they're stranded and need to get back to their home, an island called Whiskey Peak. Odd name. Speaking of odd names, their names are Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday. We've just entered the Grand Line and the weird is already off the charts! A giant whale with hallways and a river inside it, a compass that pretty much as a mind of its own, and now people named after numbers and days of the week; you could make trading cards out of all the weird stuff here!

Of course, we're wary to help them, considering they tried to kill Laboon and they can't tell us anything about who they are or who they work for. They may be on their hands and knees but my trust meter is pretty low for them right now.

"Oh, I should mention that the Log Pose is broken." Nami speaks up. "Still want to ride with us?"

Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday spring to their feet. "You broke it?!" Mr. 9 demands. "That was mine, those things aren't cheap you know!"

"How long were you going to make us beg before you told us!" Ms. Wednesday demands.

Nami then breaks into a grin, "Oh, I forgot, Crocus lent us his Log Pose, sorry!" she teases, causing the two to drop back on all fours. I snicker as I watch them squirm; Nami really knows how to push the right buttons.

"It's fine, you can ride with us." We all turn to Luffy in shock.

"What?! Why would we take them anywhere?!" Usopp demands.

"It's fine." Luffy repeats. "Don't sweat the small stuff, we'll be fine."

"Are you certain?" Crocus asks. "Once you've set sail from here you'll be committed to that course."

Luffy smiles. "Hey, if we don't like it we'll just choose a different route next time." That doesn't sound like the most practical plan but it's better than having no plan, I guess. "Okay, let's get going!" Luffy says, getting to his feet. "Now that Laboon and I have an understanding, I can leave with a clear conscience." Well, better start now if we have to.

We all board the ship, wave goodbye to Crocus and Laboon, and we're on our way. I sit on the railing on the upper deck, gazing at the ocean before us. This is it! We've entered the Grand Line! We have everything we need, so it should be smooth sailing! The sky starts to turn pink as the sun sets; I wonder what Sanji's gonna whip up for dinner?

I enter the galley and see Sanji, but he's not cooking, he actually looks kinda down in the dumps. He's leaning against the counter, his head down and muttering sadly to himself. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about our Bluefin Tuna fiasco. "A miracle food...an Elephant Bluefin Tuna and our idiot captain goes and eats it all before my sweet Nami could have a taste…"

I smile in sympathy and trot over to him; time to brighten his day. I tug on his pant leg catching his attention and point towards the stairs. "Pika pi."

"What is it?" Sanji asks. I let go and gesture for him to follow. I lead him to the frozen storage grinning all the while, leaving Sanji quite confused. "What are we doing here?" he asks.

I look at him happily before lifting up the door. I peek inside to make sure it's still there and open it all the way. "Pikachu!" I say, spreading my arms happily as the large pieces of fish meat slide out slightly with the ice. Sanji stares at the sight and his cigarette drops to the floor as he takes in the meat and what it is. I cross my arms and glance between him and the fish, my cheeky smile still wide across my face. I think this may be the most useful thing I've ever done! In a practical sense anyway.

After what feels like an eternity, Sanji looks at me, finally having put the pieces together. "Did you...?"

"Pi pikachu!" I chirp proudly.

Sanji's look of astonishment slowly melts into a smile so bright it could light up the darkest ocean floor. He kneels down and gives me a rough pat with praise oozing out of the gesture. "You are the sneakiest little bastard I've ever met!"

"Pika!" I squeal with laughter, leaning into his touch.

"C'mere you little bandit!" Sanji suddenly picks me up and cradles me only to start scratching and tickling my belly. I laugh and squirm in his grasp before nuzzling him joyfully while he gives me a little hug, still giving me scratches.

So far, I'd say the start of our voyage has started on a pretty high note. We managed to help a whale overcome his depression, we got some first hand info on how to navigate this unknown ocean, and we managed to save a little miracle food for a rainy day!

I'm a little uneasy about what we'll face on the Grand Line now that we're actually here, but hopefully with all of us working together, it shouldn't be a problem. After all, we've overcome every challenge we've come across and now we just have to navigate through a dangerous ocean line that hardly anyone has survived.

What's the worst that can happen?

* * *

 **Ooooh Pika-chan, you are gonna eat those words... XD**

 **Also, if you have a big rare fish to cook that you're probably going to get once in your lifetime and your captain is a rubber bottomless pit, SAVE THE DAMN THING!**


	26. Whiskey Peak

**Alright, I realize that a few people have pointed out that this story should be listed as a crossover. I'm aware of this but honestly, I'm afraid if I put this in the crossover section, it will be harder to people to find. I MIGHT move it when more Pokémon come into the fray or if enough people complain about it, whichever comes first.**

* * *

Snow. We're sailing on an open sea in the middle of summer...and there's snow.

To Luffy and Usopp of course, this means playtime. Not for me thanks; just the fact that there's snow has put me on edge. And how the heck is Zoro still sleeping?! Nami got Sanji to shovel the snow off the ship, knowing that it wouldn't matter considering how hard this snow is falling. But I guess this is better than having him in here constantly flirting with Nami and Ms. Wednesday. I guess Sanji can stand a day off from my shock therapy; we haven't been making good progress, but I'll let it slide. We have the whole Grand Line to worry about it.

Nami and I are inside the galley gazing out the window. Nami's all bundled up in winter gear and is holding me against her chest like a toy, trying to squeeze out a little extra warmth from my small body. I don't mind much, mostly 'cause she's doing a great job keeping _me_ warm.

Nami rolls her eyes as she watches Luffy and Usopp partake in a snowball fight. "How they can be so energetic in the snow is beyond me." Nami grumbles.

"Pika…" I sigh, my ears drooping. Nami and I both cringe when two whiny voices speak up.

"I'm cold!"

"Doesn't this stupid ship have a heating system? This environment is inhumane!"

"Shut up!" Nami yells, both of us glaring at Mr. 9 and Mrs. Wednesday, who are sitting at the table wrapped in blankets. "If you're cold then go shovel snow or something!"

"Pikachu!"

My fur suddenly stands on end and my ears twitch. I look back out the window catching Nami's attention. "Lightning?" she wonders. "First snow and now this; what's up with this weather?"

"Pika…" I say a bit uneasily. I have a pretty bad feeling about this… I shudder as more lightning flashes in the sky and the wind picks up, the sky turning dark almost like night.

"I've never seen anything like this before…" Nami says in awe. "It's like Crocus said, the normal rules of nature don't apply here."

"Pika." I agree.

"I've noticed you haven't steered for a while." Ms. Wednesday suddenly speaks up. "Is that wise?"

Nami looks confused. "I know our heading; I just checked it a while ago." Nami goes out on deck to check the Pose and we both freeze in horror. The needle is pointing behind us! We're going in the complete opposite direction! Oh crap! Nami lets out a shriek catching everyone's attention. "Make a hard turn 180 degrees!" she yells.

"What? Why would you want us to turn around?" Usopp asks.

"The ship's changed direction! We're going the wrong way!" Nami yells. She looks at the Log Pose. "I only took my eyes off it for a second; I thought the waves were calm…"

"You're not a very good navigator are you?" Ms. Wednesday comments. Ugh, I've had enough of them! Let me at them, Nami! "You can't trust anything here, nothing is as it seems; the Log Pose is the only way to get reliable direction on the Grand Line."

Nami and I glance at each other and my tail becomes iron. With Nami's kick and my tail, we both boot the two jerks out on deck. "Shut your condescending mouths and do something useful!"

"Pika pika!"

Nami and I run back out onto the upper deck and I jump onto the railing, my instincts on high alert. "Force the wind starboard, turn 180 degrees to the left!" Nami orders. "Usopp, man the sails, Sanji, take the helm!" She turns to me. "Pika-chan, any lightning nearby?"

I do a quick sweep, but my fur stays calm. "Pika." I shake my head firmly and the ship starts to turn.

"Hey, the wind's changed!" Usopp yells. The snow stops and the sky clears, allowing a warm breeze to rush by, melting just about all the snow on the ship.

"Pika-chan, keep any lightning or anything dangerous away from us as best you can!" Nami orders. I nod and jump onto the lower deck, staying out of everyone's way as they run about the ship.

"Hey, I think I saw a dolphin!" Luffy exclaims. "Let's follow it!"

I growl and slam my iron tail right onto his head. "Pikachu!" _'Shut up!'_

Luffy and I stumble slightly as the waves start to get rough. "There's an iceberg, dead ahead!" Usopp yells. Say what?!

"A fog's rolling in!" Sanji warns. Are you kidding me?!

"This is crazy! What's going on?!" Nami yells. My sentiments exactly, this is way too much! My fur stands on end and my eyes widen; a bolt is coming straight for us, and it's a big one! Sanji and Nami take the rudder and pull as hard as they can, but with the rough waves we only turn a little; we're not gonna make it!

"We're gonna crash!" Usopp wails as the iceberg draws closer. And that lightning is still coming...wait...maybe I can use that! I doubt I'll be able to retain that much lightning for long so it's worth a shot! But I can't risk hitting the ship here, I need to be up high!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but… Luffy, you have to throw me!

I tug on Luffy's shorts and frantically point towards the sky, jumping up and down. Surprisingly, Luffy gets it. "Right!" He picks me up and flings me straight up into the air. I quickly raise my tail just as the lightning strikes and I take it all in.

Just as I thought, it's so much that I can't absorb all of it! I face the iceberg and shoot an enormous blast of white lightning towards it. A large portion of the iceberg crumbles away, allowing the ship to glide by safely. Thank Zapdos that was a big bolt! I land and keep my sense on high alert for anymore lightning as the fog dissipates only for heavy rain to start pouring on us.

For the love of Rayquaza, this weather is ridiculous! I know they said the Grand Line was dangerous but this is really pushing it! And I found two more mystery words now of all times, but no time to think on them! All our eyes widen as the wind suddenly changes once again and giant storm clouds begin to approach us.

"Pull in the sails!" Nami yells. "The wind is too strong, we're gonna overturn!"

Sanji exits the galley, carrying a big platter of rice balls. "Everyone needs to eat to keep their strength up!" he yells. I quickly grab one and wolf it down before heading back to the deck.

"The ship's taking on water down below!" Ms. Wednesday yells.

"On it!" Usopp yells, grabbing some tools and bolting down below. But in doing so, no one was bringing in the sails! I quickly run and grab one of the ropes between my teeth pulling as hard as I can.

My eyes widen as a tear appears in the sails. "Pika pi!" I yell as loud as I can, pointing at the sails while still holding the rope. Sanji and Ms. Wednesday quickly join me and help with the sails, keeping them from tearing anymore.

The ship is in absolute chaos as we tirelessly run around to keep the ship afloat while staying on course. I absorb all the lightning I can while keeping an eye out for anymore icebergs. I scamper around, helping as much as I can; I help push the rudder, I help pull the sails, I hand Usopp any tools he needs, anything my small size can let me do!

After what feels like forever, the storm stops and we're still on course. We all collapse on the deck, exhausted beyond words. I fall on my side against the mast; that is something I never ever want to go through again! My ears don't even have the energy to twitch as Zoro gets up; oh yeah...he slept through all that somehow, but I'm too tired to question it.

"C'mon, I know the weather's nice but that's no reason to be lazy." Zoro comments. "We better be on the right course."

I can feel the irritation coming off the others in giant waves. I growl and wordlessly give him a nasty shock, getting rid of a fraction of the lightning I absorbed. Next time he's sleeping during something like that, I'm releasing all the lightning I absorb on him!

Zoro's eyes fall on Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday and Luffy explains how we're taking them home. I forgot he slept through that whole fiasco...Arceus, he really is a Snorlax! I don't care if I don't know what that means, all I know is that he is one!

Zoro kneels in front of them, a dangerous smile on his face. "What were your names again?" he asks, thought it sounds like they didn't really have a choice. They shakily repeat their names and Zoro's smile grows. Arceus, his face rivals Patty's sometimes in terms of creepy! "You know...those names sound familiar and that's what's bugging me." he says. "In fact, the more I think about it, I'm certain I've heard them before!"

That catches my attention; don't tell me he knows these clowns! But before he can think anymore (Arceus only knows how much that could strain him), Nami gives him a hard hit on the head. I guess she figured my lightning didn't do us enough justice...and I agree.

Three punches later, Zoro's nursing three large bumps on his head and Nami steps up, authority coming off her in waves. "Listen up everyone, there's no telling what's gonna happen next!" he announces. She clenches her fists. "My navigating skills may be useless but I swear I will guide us through this!" Well, I'll give her points for determination at least. "Speaking of which, we're here! Our first island on the Grand Line!"

We all go to the front of the ship and I jump onto Sanji's shoulder to get a better look. Sure enough, an island is sitting right before us. That's Whiskey Peak huh? The place is actually pretty huge, unless those gigantic cactus' just make the rest of the island look big. They actually look like a bunch of giant Cacnea, sitting in the distance.

Again, a mystery word! These things have just been popping up all over the place since we got here! I've gotta remind myself to sit down and think these words over; there's gotta be some kind of connection between them and my memories!

My ears twitch as Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday jump onto the railing of the ship. They quickly bid us farewell and then jump into the ocean, swimming the rest of the way to the island. Okay…

"That was a quick exit." Nami comments.

"I guess we'll never find out what those nutjobs were up to." Usopp sighs.

"Who cares, we're landing!" Luffy exclaims. Yeah, I'm with Luffy on this one; they're out of our hands now, so let's just see what this island has in store for us! We sail up a waterway, leading to the shore line and a fog slowly surrounds us.

Usopp's a bit worried about monsters, but as Nami points out, we have to stay here since we don't have a choice. We have to wait for the Log Pose to reset before we can go anywhere else so whatever's here, we're stuck with it. If there are monsters, we'll just have to deal. We ignore Usopp's whining about having Don't-Go-To-This-Island disease (making up illnesses? That's a new low, man…) and we sail further into the island.

The fog becomes thicker and I shudder ever so slightly; I don't like this place. This is the Grand Line after all, who knows what could be lurking around here. I focus my senses and hearing, sensing quite a bit of movement up ahead; okay scratch what I said before, I _really_ don't like this! Luckily, everyone else sees it too as the fog begins to lift ever so slightly.

"Be on your guard." Nami warns. We all tense up, at the ready for a fight and I begin charging my electricity. The shore comes into view and fog slowly lifts revealing...a giant cheering crowd.

Uh...what?

All the islanders are cheering and waving signs like we're heroes or something; I even catch people shouting that pirates are always welcome here as confetti falls all around.

Alright, what's going on? I'm sorry, but last I checked pirates aren't welcomed so easily! Don't we usually have to show that we mean no harm before being accepted into the island? Luffy and Usopp easily accept their praise, smiling and waving to the islanders.

We land and disembark before we're approached by a large man with really curly hair. He clears his throat and addresses us, "My name is Igarappoi and it is my honor as Mayor to welcome you to Whiskey Peak." Seriously? The mayor is totally fine with pirates too? I dunno, something about this is really rubbing me the wrong way…

The mayor explains that this island mainly thrives on making liquor and music, so hospitality is a big part of their culture. Okay, that makes sense I guess… He offers to throw us a celebration in honor of our arrival and Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp are all for it. I slip off Sanji and stand between Nami and Zoro.

"Excuse me, but how long until the Log Pose records this island's magnetic field?" Nami asks.

The mayor shakes his head, "Such boring details will have to keep for now." he says (why did he hesitate before saying that?). "Surely you'd like to rest after your journey." Well, we did sail through hell just to get here so I guess it would be nice to relax. Hell, if sailing the Grand Line constantly has storms like that earlier one, we'll need all the rest we can get.

Before Nami can even protest, we're swept away to a house where a giant party gets underway. I've gotta say, they weren't lying when they said they knew how to party. There's tons of food, wine, music, and everyone's just having a great time! The loudness is a bit numbing to my ears, but it's nothing compared to Laboon's screams.

All in all, everything seems pretty upbeat; Luffy's stuffing his face, Zoro's drinking, Usopp's telling his tall tales, and Sanji is flirting. I would give him shock therapy, but the girls all seem to enjoy being around him, so I'll let him have a pass. Besides, I've said before that there's a time and place for flirting and this is definitely one of those times.

Nami tried to stay the designated sober party-goer, but once she heard they were having a drinking contest with a cash prize, she was swept into the fray in an instant.

As usual, all the kids adored me and they were surprisingly gentle. They were even mature enough to take turns holding me instead of fighting over me. I'm glad for that, or else they probably would've invoked my lightning, and in a place this crowded, that would not end well.

The party goes late into the night and I munch on some food that Luffy hadn't eaten yet and even taste some of the wine over with Zoro and Nami. I'm not big on alcohol and this wasn't any different, which is weird now that I think about it. The mayor said this stuff contains no alcohol, but everyone in the drinking contest is still acting like they're drunk when they shouldn't be. This really isn't helping my suspicions about this island…

"Hey rodent." I look up to see Zoro looking down at me. "When everyone clears out of here I want you to wake me up." he says. "And I mean everyone; wait until we're alone."

I tilt my head with a frown. "Pika?" _'Why?'_

Zoro finishes his mug of wine. "Call it a gut feeling; just do it, will ya?" he says irritably. "Unless a little pipsqueak like you can't handle it."

I bristle. "Pika pika!" _'What's that supposed to mean?!'_

Zoro chuckles, taking my answer as a yes and goes back to drinking.

I scoff and storm away from him; I'll show that lazy idiot! Wake him up when everyone leaves? Easy! And I'm a bit glad I have a reason to stay up. I don't know what it is, but something about all this seems really...off. Maybe Zoro's on to something which is why he wants me to wake him up. I can't think of any other reason why he would pass up a drunken sleep.

I grab a bit more food, slip under a table to avoid the partygoers stomping feet, and wait patiently. Judging by how this is going, it's probably gonna be a while before anyone deems it light's out.

* * *

When the day finally ends, we've all passed out all over the place. Well, everyone except me. All I did was eat a little, that's not enough to knock me out. And besides, I have a job to do.

I trot over to Zoro and tap his arm. "Pika. Pikachu." _'Hey Zoro, wake up.'_ As I expected, he doesn't stir. I frown and leap up onto the table. "Pika! Pika pika pi!" _'Hey, up and at 'em Snorlax!'_ I tap his head a little harder and that seems to get his attention.

He opens his eyes and stretches with a loud yawn, "Night already?" I roll my eyes; this man is going to sleep his whole life away if he doesn't watch it. He stretches and stands up, "Well, better get to work."

Work? What is he talking about? I follow him outside and he stops, looking down at me. "You can come, just don't get in the way." he says simply before continuing on. "And try not to look so cute when we're there, it's bad for my image."

I scowl and follow him. Who does this guy think he is? I follow him up to the top of a building and he sits cross legged on the roof. I come up beside him as he gazes down at the ground below us. We watch as the mayor walks out, followed by Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday as well as a really muscular lady who I recognize as that nun who Nami drank against.

I watch in astonishment as it's revealed that these guys really are after us! That whole party was just a hoax after all! They want us for Luffy's bounty; I don't why I'm so surprised. And that mayor guy is really named Mr. 8 and that muscle lady is called Ms. Monday? Okay, what is up with these names?

Right when Mr. 8 orders his underlings to confiscate any valuables from our ship, Zoro decides to intervene. "Sorry to interrupt." Zoro holds his sword high. "You mind letting our friends sleep? They've had a rough day." I stand on all fours in an offensive stance as the moon sits behind us. My ears and tail are straight and at the ready. I'll show you Zoro, I can be intimidating when I want to be!

They all whirl around in shock, probably because we just heard their whole plan. "You and your pet should've stayed asleep with your friends!" Mr. 8 says dangerously. I let out a growl; you trick us with your fancy party and you have the nerve to call me a pet?!

"Easy." Zoro says softly to me. I look at him, seeing a cocky smirk on his face. "You'll get your shot." I smirk back; Zoro really knows how to read me when it comes to fighting. He turns back to Mr. 8 as most of the islanders have gathered below us, all of them donning weapons of all kinds.

"A good swordsman never lets his guard down." Zoro says, getting to his feet. "Plus, I had a nap earlier." I inwardly roll my eyes; I wonder if he would be this chipper if he was actually awake during that storm? Zoro's eyes run over all the bounty hunters, "I count about a hundred of you scumbags," he says. "And we'll take on all of you." I take a threatening step forward, sparks flying from my cheeks. "You hear me, Baroque Works?"

Mr. 8, 9, and Ms. Monday and Wednesday all freeze in horror. "How do you know our name?" Mr. 8 demands. I don't show any hint of confusion despite all the questions springing into my head; I have to keep my game face on.

I listen as Zoro says that Baroque Works tried to give him a job offer a long time ago that he refused. I keep forgetting that the guy was a pirate hunter back in the day. "Do the same rules still apply?" Zoro asks. "Employee identities kept secret, cheesy codenames, and an anonymous boss that no one knows?" Zoro grins, eating up their astonished looks. "Baroque Works, the criminal group that faithfully carry out their orders like herded sheep; that's some secret." Wow, so these guys do whatever their boss says to do without question? They must be a pretty lethal group; wonder why none of them have rebelled yet?

Mr. 8 lowers his head, "Since you know so much, I'm afraid we have no other option but to kill you." he says. Oh, is that all? "And two more gravestones shall be added to the Cactus Rocks tonight." That figures; I thought those 'needles' looked to big and prominent to be needles. But yikes, we're literally on a graveyard; I wonder how many pirates these guys have taken out before us?

Zoro gives me a look and I jump onto his shoulder. The moment I do, he starts moving. "Stay close." I don't know how he did it, but the next thing I know, we're on the ground in the middle of the bounty hunter crowd. It takes them a minute to realize that we're right among them. I snicker at their faces and Zoro and I grin at each other.

"Kill him!" Mr. 8 orders. The bounty hunters open fire and Zoro jumps up into the air. After a few more seconds of stealth that I don't think I could even pull off, we end up behind Mr. 8.

Zoro slips his sword through his giant hair, back to back with that taller man. "Ask yourself," Zoro says calmly. "Will two gravestones really be enough?"

"There they are! Get them!" The bounty hunters surround us, guns at the ready. Uh, guys? That's not the best decision right now…

"No, stop!" Mr. 8 yells. "You're going to shoot me!" My ears twitch and I tap Zoro's shoulder to get down. "Igarappa!" Mr. 8 holds up his saxophone and blows into it, leaning back against Zoro.

Zoro moves with him as a barrage of bullets shoot down a number of guys around us. During the confusion, Zoro slips away again, hiding us behind a house. He peeks out at the enemy. "So that thing's a weapon." he says. "Better watch it."

"Pika." I agree with a nod. Those bounty hunter guys may be easy pickings, but we'll have to be careful around those Baroque Works guys.

Who knows what they may have up their sleeves?

* * *

 **Badass tag team battle off the port bow!**

 **Who else here think Pikachus can be intimidating under the right circumstances? XD**


	27. Lightning Swords

**Okay, before we start, let me clarify something: I did NOT say that more Pokémon would be joining the Straw Hats! I meant that they would just be added to the STORY as a whole. Yes, more Pokémon ARE going to eventually appear, but that doesn't mean they're going to join up! (And as far as I'm concerned, Pika-chan's the only permanent Pokémon of the Straw Hats that's needed XP )**

 **Sorry if I crushed anyone's dreams, but you can still look forward to Pokémon eventually making appearances. It'll take a long time, but the time will eventually come.**

* * *

The men all spread out to search for us and Zoro lays a hand on one of his swords. "Now's as good a time as any to see what my new recruits can do." he says. "Yubashiri and Kitetsu." He's talking to his swords...why am I even questioning this; after hanging with this crowd, this shouldn't be surprising.

My ears twitch and I look above us to see a bounty hunter aiming a pistol right at us. "Pika!" I cry, tapping Zoro.

Zoro looks up and jumps through the door behind us, narrowly dodging the bullet. But the minute we're inside, we hear multiple guns clicking around us; crap! Zoro leaps across the room and flips a table up onto its side, blocking the onslaught of bullets. Sparks fly from my cheeks but Zoro puts a hand on my head, "Relax." he says, drawing one of his swords. "Let's see how Yubashiri can handle this."

I don't respond but I cling to Zoro's shoulder as he slices through the table. He zooms past the bounty hunters with a fast and smooth swing. He grins at the sword, "Light and well balanced…" he says with a grin. "Not bad." More bounty hunters start to chase after us but I can handle these guys.

I give Zoro a tap to alert him and jump into the air. I release a decent amount of lightning, frying our pursuers. I land back on Zoro's shoulder glancing at the twitching pile of people behind us. I held back on that one; they are normal people after all, not Devil Fruit users or super strong people like Zoro or Sanji.

Zoro climbs some stairs leading to the roofs of the houses, but when we reach the top he bends back. It's so sudden that I'm almost thrown from him! We both watch as a small missile flies over our heads; that was close! I think Zoro's instincts can rival mine under the right circumstances! I hear a loud battle cry and look behind us to see Ms. Monday throw a giant barrel at us.

Zoro turns and easily slices it into four pieces before ducking and letting the pieces slam into the four guys in front of us. I stick my tongue out and catch a few drops of wine as the liquor spills everywhere. "Aww, and that wine must've cost a fortune." Zoro comments. "What a waste."

I look behind us again to see a guy swinging a giant hammer towards us, but Zoro's ready. He slices the hammer in two with Yubashiri but he then swings his other sword dangerously close to the guy, nearly lopping off his head! "What the hell…" Zoro mutters. "Well Kitetsu, you're a bit of a troublemaker aren't you?" he says to the blade. "A good sword only cuts when its master directs it to. Cursed or not, you're gonna listen to me."

I sweatdrop; is he seriously scolding a sword? To my surprise the sword seems to glint at his words as if in response to him. I hear a small cry and a boy wielding a small dagger charges towards us. I lash out my tail without making it iron and easily slap the dagger away from him, giving his hand a sharp smack as well. The boy stumbles back to the ground in shock and Zoro turns to face him.

A nun runs up and hugs the boy, "Please, have mercy!" she cries. "He's just a boy!"

I look at Zoro and catch his eye; I quickly jump onto his shoulder just as the nun sprays some weird powder at us. Two slices later, Zoro and I are on the other side of them. "You're better off trying that cheap trick on someone who's more likely to fall for it." Zoro says dangerously. The boy and the nun both slump to the ground, knocked out but with no blood. "The flat of the blade is mercy." I guess Zoro really does know when to hold back in a fight.

Still holding his swords, he climbs a ladder leading to a higher building and he sits at the top, leading me to jump off his shoulder. The guys try climbing the ladder after us, but Zoro just pushes it away from the wall. I give the guys a wave as they all fall backwards and I jump back onto Zoro as he stands up. He runs and jumps off the ladder towards another roof where the remaining thugs are standing.

"Hey, how about giving me some of that lightning?" Zoro says to me. I look at him until I catch onto his train of thought. I've actually been wondering if this would work. I smirk and sparks fly from my cheeks. I'm careful to avoid hitting him and focus solely on his two blades. The thugs below us watch in fear as we soar towards them.

"Two Sword Style…" My lightning surrounds and crackles around his swords. "Shock Wave!" Zoro lands, and spins with his swords, making a my electricity on his swords fly at the offenders in a big wave. Okay, that's pretty awesome! We hear more guys coming towards us, but Zoro scrapes his sword in the ground around us in a circle and we walk off. Sure enough, when they guys land, they fall through the newly made hole making Zoro chuckle with pride. These guys are amateurs!

All of a sudden, my ears twitch and my eyes grow wide. I sweep my tail under Zoro's feet just as Ms. Monday swings a ladder at him. It shatters against the wall, showering us with splinters. "Okay, that was too close." Zoro says, his eyes wide. Yeah, maybe you should save the cocky attitude for after we get rid of all of them, you moron!

Ms. Monday discards the broken ladder and slips some brass knuckles onto her hand. "It was a good effort," she growls. "But no man can match my strength!" She grabs Zoro by the neck. "Now you die swordsman." She lifts him up tightening her grip and slams him onto the ground. "Taste my brass knuckles!"

Oh, I don't think so, lady! I move quick, and when Zoro opens his eyes, my iron tail is between his face and the brass knuckles. That was a bit too close for comfort, but at least brass is softer than iron! I smirk at Zoro before bringing my attention back to Ms. Monday. Her eyes are wide as she stares at me.

"You...you're a-!"

I flick my tail up, throwing her arm away and I leap into the air. I give a hard swing and nail her right in the face, throwing her off the roof. I land and my tail becomes normal again, grinning in triumph. What was that she said? No _man_ can best her strength? Well, good thing I'm not a man!

Zoro gives me a smirk and stands up. "Is that all you can offer, Baroque Works?" We walk to the edge of the building where Mr. 8, 9 and Ms. Wednesday are staring up at us in shock. I'm kinda hoping these guys put up a bit more of a fight; Zoro's gotten most of the kills so far and I really want to be a part of the action this time.

Mr. 9 tells us that Baroque Works agents with small numbers have greater power, but I honestly think he's just saying that to make himself feel less scared.

Zoro smirks at that, "Fancy titles mean nothing in a fight," he says. "The strongest wins, and that's it." Couldn't have said it better myself! After easily dodging another bullet blast from Mr. 8, Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday take action.

Mr. 9 begins jumping up towards us while Ms. Wednesday lets out a sharp whistle. "Come here, Carue!" she calls. I watch in surprise and confusion as a large duck wearing a strange hat enters the scene; a very disobedient duck I might add. While we're looking at the strange sight of Ms. Wednesday riding a duck, Mr. 9 takes the opportunity to flip towards us, two metal bats in hand.

Zoro easily blocks it and Mr. 9 starts swinging wildly, but Zoro blocks and parries just about every hit until Mr. 9 runs out of building. "Is this really the best they can do?" Zoro scoffs. I agree; these Baroque Works guys really aren't impressing me so far.

"There's better." A voice says. We turn to see Ms. Wednesday standing on her duck. "Ready Mr. Bushido?" She raises her arms and crosses her wrists. "What do you think, bad boy?" she asks seductively. My ears wilt and I sweatdrop; what is she doing? She opens her hand revealing a small bottle of perfume. "Now enjoy my Perfume Dance."

She begins to sway her hips and the perfume comes towards us in waves, or, more towards Zoro. I'm so low to the ground that I probably can't smell it as well as he can right now, and it smells awful so I'm not complaining; I guess there are perks to being this small. But why is she doing that dance? Maybe it's because I'm not human, but she looks really silly.

I suddenly hear Zoro cough and I turn to see him fall to his knees; crap, is that stuff actually lethal to him? I turn back to Ms. Wednesday as she places a ring with a sharp blue scale on her pinky. "Peacock Slasher!" she yells.

I waste no time ands quickly hit her with a huge lightning attack. Both her and her duck screech in pain before falling to the ground, brown and twitching; I'm not taking any chances!

"Geez, this is pathetic," Zoro grumbles. "Fighting them is starting to get embarrassing."

"Pika…" I agree; this is way too easy. We suddenly hear saxophone notes and we leap out of the way as Mr. 8 blows more bullets at us. This guy is really getting on my nerves with the whole sneaking around thing; that's supposed to be _my_ area of expertise!

Zoro and I jump back to the ground and press ourselves against another building. "That horn complicates things," Zoro says. "It's impossible to get close to fight."

"Pikachu…" I says softly.

We turn as a haggard Mr. 9 springs from a pile of wood and stalks towards us, "You may have won the first fight, but you won't get away with it!" he yells. "No tricks from you this time!"

Zoro frowns, "I didn't trick you, you jumped off a building!" he says but Mr. 9 ignores him.

"Time for my Home-Run Sneaky Bat!" He swings one of his bats and the end shoots towards us. A length of chain follows and wraps around Zoro's arm. "What are you gonna do now, tough guy?" Mr. 9 laughs.

Zoro and a give each other a look. "Kick your ass." Zoro answers simply and I step forward. I send out a thin stream of lightning and make it run along the chain towards Mr. 9 resulting in him getting a nasty shock. He slumps the ground, covered in burns and Zoro and I grin even though he's still holding the end of the chain weakly. "Too easy." Zoro says.

"I don't think so!" We look up to see Ms. Wednesday holding a small dagger and her duck standing a few yards away, dragging a sleeping Luffy alongside them. "Don't move or your friend will be paying the price!"

Zoro rolls his eyes, "Idiot, can't he at least wake up when he's being held hostage?"

"Pika pi…" I sigh and shake my head.

"Well done Ms. Wednesday." We look up to see Mr. 8 looking down at us from the rooftop. He grips the ends of his bowtie, "Now, preparing to fire!" He yanks the ends and multiple gun barrels emerge from his curls. Wait, are you serious? "Firing Squad ready!" Are you freaking kidding me? Zoro and I share the same confused yet shocked expressions as Mr. 8 yanks the loops of his tie. "Igarappapa!" He yells and the guns fire.

"Oh great!" Zoro groans as he gives the chain still around his arm a sharp yank. Mr. 9's semi-conscious body sails through the air and takes the bullets easily. Ms. Wednesday is so surprised by his move that I take the opportunity to charge towards her. I'm surrounded in white energy and I slam right into her. She gasps for breath and drops the dagger and I drop to the ground just in time as Zoro throws Mr. 9 right into her and the duck, throwing them far away from Luffy.

"Igarappapa!"

Zoro runs towards me as Mr. 8 begins rapidly firing at us. "Let's go, rodent" he calls to me. I nod and jump onto his shoulder just as he leaps onto Luffy's stomach. We bounce up towards the roof and I focus my lightning around his sword. I see him wince slightly as my lightning burns his hand lightly and he downs Mr. 8 with one quick slash surrounded by lightning. We land behind Mr. 8 as blood spurts from his body and he falls to the ground.

"Done." Zoro sheathes his sword and walks back to the edge of the roof. He sits down and I plop down next to him. "Maybe now I can get some peace and quiet." I give a small smile and lie down next to him, gazing at the clear sky and full moon. That was certainly an eventful evening; really glad I was awake for it!

Zoro finds a bottle of wine laying around and starts to drink. "You weren't too bad Rodent." he comments. "Maybe I should use your lightning more often."

I roll my eyes but smile nonetheless. "Pika pika." _'We'll see, ya big Snorlax.'_

The night is quiet for a while until we hear a loud boom. My ears twitch and we glance around; was that an explosion? We peek over the roof where we left Mr. 9, Mr. 8 and Ms. Wednesday and see two more figures approach them; a tall guy wearing sunglasses, and a lady with umbrella.

We listen in and boy, what a shock! Turns out that someone had infiltrated Baroque Works and uncovered some fatal secrets! And that someone happened to be Ms. Wednesday! Turns out she's actually a princess and Mr. 8 is the head of her security; boy, this is getting juicy!

"This could be good." Zoro comments with a grin. I nod and continue watching the action; I would be worried if Luffy wasn't down there with them. I wonder what's gonna happen when he wakes up?

However the fight gets pretty intense after just a few seconds with the tall guy somehow throwing explosions all over the place. Mr. 8 (or I guess I should call him Igaram now) practically gets blown to bits leaving Mr. 9 and Ms Wednesday (what was her name? Vivi?) to deal with him.

"I've had enough." Zoro says. We hop down to the ground, Zoro grabs the back of Luffy's vest and we make a break for it. We turn just in time to see Mr. 9 get blasted by the tall guy and into the water and something grabs Zoro's ankle; it's Igaram.

He starts begging Zoro to protect the princess but Zoro of course refuses. I on the other hand feel a tad conflicted; yeah the guy and this princess were trying to kill us less than five minutes ago, but this guy's pleads are genuine. There's no way he could be lying about this so it's not a trap.

"So, about this reward…" My ears perk up at the familiar voice. We look up to see Nami sitting above us, a pleased grin on her face. When did she get here? "I'll take it; how does a billion berries sound?" Whoa, we're starting the bids that high? Even for a princess that sounds like a bit much.

It turns out Nami didn't fall for the whole party act; should've figured a thief like her wouldn't be swept up that easily. Igaram says he can't promise a reward that big so we're better off negotiating the terms with Vivi...and she's currently running for her life to get away from two agents who, according to Igaram, both have Devil Fruit powers. Great.

"Fine, I'll save your precious princess." Nami says with a huff, before turning to Zoro. "Well Zoro? Go get 'em!"

"What? No way!" Zoro retorts. "If you want the money then you do it!" I roll my eyes as the argument begins.

Okay, I've done my part, you guys can clean up the rest of this mess. I'm gonna check on the others and maybe get a little sleep, if I can even manage it after all the excitement. I turn tail, and head back to the house, completely unknown to everyone around me.


	28. All Sunday

**Did anyone see One Piece chapter 801? *squeals* What do you have planned for us Oda?**

* * *

I reenter the party house and, sure enough, Sanji and Usopp are still fast asleep. Sheesh, it must be nice to be able to sleep through yelling, swords swinging, and multiple guns firing. I go over to them and see that they have multiple footprints all over them; guess those bounty hunters didn't care where they stepped when trying to find Zoro and me. Jerks; maybe I should've shocked them harder.

Actually, I just had a thought; if Usopp and Sanji are both completely dead to the world like Luffy...why did Ms. Wednesday choose Luffy to take as a hostage? Not that he's expendable, but Sanji and Usopp don't have food weighing them down; wouldn't they be easier to carry? Maybe it's 'cause Luffy's the captain and he's an idiot; that makes sense too.

I should probably wake these guys up though, and attempt get them up to speed on what's going on; keyword being attempt. I shake Sanji's shoulder, "Pika. Pika pi." _'Sanji. Wake up.'_ He doesn't stir. I frown and shake him again. "Pika pika!" _'Wake up sleepyhead!'_

I brighten as he stirs but it's not because he's waking up. I cry out as he suddenly grabs me and hugs me tightly. "My darling…" he mumbles in his sleep. "You're skin...so soft…" I squirm as he begins stroking me softly. "I'm sure your lips...are just as soft…" My eyes widen as his lips pucker.

Oh _hell_ no!

I waste no time unleashing a lightning attack on both Sanji and Usopp and I'm released from Sanji's grip. The two pirates wake up in a flurry of sleepy and pained mumbles; can't say they didn't deserve it though. "Pika-chan?" Sanji asks, finally waking up fully. He rubs his eyes sleepily, "God...what time is it?" I roll my eyes; that's the least of our problems right now!

"Huh...guess everybody went home." Usopp observes, looking around the trashed house.

Not exactly...guess it's time for another game of charades… "Pikachu." I shake my head and begin gesturing around the house.

Sanji looks at me, "You trying to say something?" he asks. I nod and wait until both of them are paying attention. "Hey, where's Nami?" Sanji asks glancing around.

"Luffy and Zoro are gone too." Usopp adds.

I point to the door, "Pika." _'They're outside.'_ I answer.

"Maybe they went for a walk." Usopp says with a shrug.

I shake my head and start my show. I curl my ears and imitate that clearing throat thing that Mr. 8- er, Igaram does and then I hold an invisible rifle in my paws and pretend to shoot it. I then make the scariest face I can and pretend that I'm swinging swords around.

I hear Sanji snicker so I guess he knows who I'm talking about, hopefully we're on the right track. I then press my ears together to try and create Ms. Wednesday- sorry, Vivi's hairstyle and try my best to imitate that weird duck she had before Usopp finally says something.

"Okay, I'm completely lost."

"Hate to say it, but I am too." Sanji says.

I deflate in annoyance; wishful thinking that they would understand. I guess first I should get across what this town really is. I make my Zoro face and swing my invisible swords again.

"I got that; that's Zoro." Sanji says. I nod and point to myself. "So, you and Zoro?" Sanji asks.

I nod again and Usopp frowns. "What were you doing with Zoro?" Why are you asking me like I've been committing murder? But then again, that's pretty true…

I swing my swords again and make sparks fly from my cheeks in an offensive stance. "Uh...fighting?" Sanji asks and I nod.

"You were fighting Zoro?" Usopp asks in shock. I shake my head and Usopp deflates in relief. "So you were both were fighting someone." I nod again when Usopp finally puts the pieces together. "You were fighting a monster weren't you? I knew something evil was lurking around here somewhere! Please tell me none of the islanders got hurt!"

I look a bit uneasy in response and both Usopp and Sanji's faces grow concerned. They peer out the window and their eyes widen at the sight of all the fallen villagers. "Zoro…" Sanji growls. "That bastard went too far this time!"

I quickly jump onto the windowsill and shake my head, waving my paws. "Pika pi! Pikachu!" I quickly say, pointing to myself. Usopp and Sanji stare at me in horror,

"Wait, _you_ did this?" Sanji asks.

"Pika-chan, how could you?!" Usopp demands. "These people gave us food and a party! And you just beat them up?!"

"Pika pika!" I exclaim, a bit insulted considering what I went through to get rid of these guys. I point to the people. "Pika pikachu!" I slide my paw across my neck in a slicing motion, but it doesn't look like they're bothering to understand. How else can I show them?

I look around and spy a piece of paper on the ground with a picture on it; is that what I think it is? I leap off the window and trot over to it and...yep, it's Luffy's wanted poster. One of the guys must've dropped it when coming through here. I pick it up and go over to Sanji and Usopp, jumping up on the windowsill once more.

Sanji frowns in confusion, but Usopp looks much more confused. "What does Luffy's bounty have to do with anything?"

I roll my eyes and groan audibly; must I spell everything out for you? I point to the poster, specifically the bounty number, and then back out to the unconscious villagers. My face is completely serious, no joking whatsoever and Sanji seems to get the picture. Thank Arceus this guy's gotten used to reading my expressions.

"Son of a bitch…" Sanji breathes.

"What? What is it?" Usopp asks frantically, glancing between me and the poster.

"They were bounty hunters…" Sanji says softly. "All of them?" he asks me. I nod grimly and lower the poster; I can feel the disappointment radiating off him from the fact that all those girls he flirted with were out for his head.

"Bounty hunters?" Usopp asks in horror. "No...they can't be! They treated us like heroes!"

"Idiot, it was all a ruse." Sanji snaps. "And we fell for it, hook, line, and sinker."

Usopp moans and sits against the wall, "Why can't we ever catch a break?" he whines. "I mean, even pirates deserve a vacation once in awhile; why can't we ever find an island where nothing is out to get us?" That's the price you pay for having a bounty, pun intended. No wonder Nami was so worried back then; this is what she was afraid of.

I wonder how many other bounty hunters will be after us? What lengths will they go to get us besides trying to get us drunk just to kill us in our sleep? I hate to say it, but I don't think I'm ever going to trust parties again, or at least ones with alcohol. Guess that makes me the designated sober Straw Hat; thank Arceus I don't really like the taste of wine.

Just then, a huge explosion rings throughout the air, making me wobble on the windowsill. "What the hell?" Sanji exclaims.

"W-What was that?" Usopp whimpers.

"Pika…" I have no idea, but it certainly didn't sound good. I look into the sky as the strong smell of smoke enters my nose. I lean out and see a small piece of the sky tinted red by flames; holy Heatran... (Really? A mystery word now?!)

A few moments later, Luffy bursts into the room. "Hey! We gotta go!" he yells. I can't help but flinch at his face; his eyes are wide with both anger and panic and he actually looks serious for a change.

"Go? Go where?" Usopp asks.

"No time! We just have to go now!" Luffy yells. He grabs Usopp by the overalls and yanks him out the door while Sanji and I follow suit.

"Luffy slow down!" Sanji yells as we try our hardest to keep up with him. "What's going on?!"

"I'll tell you on the ship!" Luffy responds. "Just hurry!" Poor Usopp screams as he's yanked through the air by Luffy and we eventually make it to the Merry where Nami, Vivi, Zoro, and that duck are waiting for us. We get on the ship, raise anchor and soon we're safely following the Log Pose away from Whiskey Peak.

"Would someone please tell us what that explosion was all about?" Usopp demands.

"Alright, first of all-" Zoro starts but Sanji cuts him off.

"Yeah yeah, the people here are bounty hunters, we got that from Pika-chan." he says and I nod in confirmation. "But what the hell caused an explosion that big?"

"I'll feel much better telling you once we're away from this island." Nami says. "Keep a lookout in case anyone's following." Sanji and Usopp obey and I jump down to the lower deck.

"We should be out to sea soon." Vivi says after a few moments.

"I'm just glad we got away from the people who were chasing us."

I nod but then my ears twitch. That voice didn't sound familiar at all.

"I'll say!" Nami agrees.

"With all this fog, we should be careful to avoid the rocks."

Okay, nope, that voice does _not_ belong here! I turn and my eyes widen; a lady is sitting on the upper railing. I quietly and frantically tap Nami's leg, not taking my eyes off her. Nami looks down at me, follows my gaze and realization sinks in. Everyone turns to the lady and we take in her appearance.

She looks like she's in her early twenties and she has long black hair. She's wearing a skimpy purple outfit and boots, complete with a purple cowboy hat. I get into an offensive stance and growl under my breath; her whole aura gives off a calm but threatening demeanor.

"It...it's you!" Vivi chokes. Aw crap, is she with Baroque Works too?

"I just passed by your dear Mr. 8 on the way here." The woman says with a smile. "He didn't look too good."

Vivi's gaze darkens dramatically. "So you were the one…" she mutters.

"Who are you and what are you doing on my ship?!" Luffy demands.

"Answer him, what are you doing here Ms. All Sunday?!" Vivi yells. Yep, Baroque Works; just great.

"Which guy is she partnered with?" Nami asks Vivi.

"Mr. Zero, the boss." Vivi answers darkly. Oh yeah, we're screwed. Apparently while Vivi was working as a double agent she had to follow Ms. All Sunday in order to learn the boss' identity. That's probably how those guys figured who Vivi really was, but she probably knew she would run that risk by following her.

"You still haven't told us what you're doing here!" Vivi yells.

Ms. All Sunday's smile fades, "Oh right," she sighs. "You were just so serious that I couldn't resist. A princess making an enemy of Baroque Works, it's just so...ridiculous."

Vivi's eyes practically glow with rage. "YOU KILLED HIM!"

All at once, we're all ready to take her down. Sanji and Usopp are right next to her taking aim, Usopp with his slingshot and Sanji with a pistol. Nami and Zoro raise their weapons and I allow sparks to fly from my cheeks.

"Uh, Sanji?" Usopp speaks up. "You do realize what you're doing, right?"

"Nope, not a clue." Sanji answers. "All I know is that the beautiful Ms. Wednesday needs me." I really don't know how to respond to that…

Ms. All Sunday closes her eyes, not seeming at all bothered. "I would appreciate it if you would stop pointing those things at me." I watch in shock as Sanji and Usopp are flung over the railing, and Nami and Zoro's weapons are knocked away.

All of a sudden I'm being lifted into the air. I feel something that feels like fast invisible hands pass me through the air until I feel something grab me by the scruff. I look up to find myself face to face with Ms. All Sunday. She looks at me, an intriguing and curious look in her eyes, "Interesting…" she says softly.

I frown at her and squirm in her grip but it's like iron. She tightens her grip, her nails digging into my skin making me squeak in pain.

"Hey!" I hear Sanji exclaim in anger. All the Straw Hats are glaring at Ms. All Sunday as she literally holds me over their heads. This is demeaning; being reduced to a hostage like this! I wanna shock her with all my might, but she locks eyes with me.

"Easy now; my past targets have learned that it's pointless to resist around me." she says, and I believe her, ceasing my struggles. Whatever her Devil Fruit power is...it's already scaring me. "Good. You're an obedient little one." She talks down to me like I'm some stupid animal. I wince as she raises a finger and gently scratches me under my chin, "It would be a shame to have to put down a creature as special as you." Wait...what?

"Put Pika-chan down!" I hear Luffy yell.

Ms. All Sunday smiles and holds me in her lap, stroking me, her grip still firm. I can feel my pride cracking with every stroke. "So you're the captain; Monkey D. Luffy." she says. "I've heard so much about you."

"I-I demand you let our friend go and leave this ship at once!" Usopp says from behind the mast. Maybe you should try saying that out in the open Mr. Brave-Warrior-of-the-Sea.

"Bad luck," Ms. All Sunday says with a shrug. "Picking up a princess who Baroque Works wants eliminated." She turns to Vivi. "And only a handful of pirates for protection; but with the direction your Log Pose is indicating your luck just gets worse." Nami's eyes widen as she looks at the Pose.

"The next island is called Little Garden." Ms. All Sunday says. "We won't even have to lift a finger." She picks me up by the scruff again, making me wince as she tightly grips the same spot from before and takes something else out with her free hand. "You don't think it's foolish to let yourselves be wiped out?"

She throws me to Sanji and the strange object to Vivi. Sanji catches me and my paws immediately go to the place where she grabbed me, wincing in pain. "You okay?" Sanji asks. I look up at him and give a nod while Vivi looks at the pose.

Ms. All Sunday explains that it's a Pose that leads to an island that will allow the Log Pose we have to reset straight to Alabasta. Rather than go through multiple islands to get there, this Pose is the equivalent of a shortcut. Plus, no Baroque Works agents know about the island so we would be safe.

All in all it sounds like a good deal...but can we trust her? Her expression is completely unreadable, even I can't tell if she's lying or not. However, our decision is made for us as Luffy walks over and grabs the Pose, crushing it in his grip. "We don't need it!" he says indignantly, glaring at Ms. All Sunday.

Nami gives him a hard kick to the face; has Sanji been giving her lessons when I wasn't looking? "You jerk! She just gave us an easier course; maybe she is trying to help us!" She yells.

Luffy doesn't answer and looks at Ms. All Sunday, "You don't decide where this ship goes." he says. "Plus, she blew up that funny old man I liked so now I hate her." Logic with Luffy, ladies and gentlemen…

Ms. All Sunday gets off the rail and walks along the upper deck, "I'm sorry to hear that." she says. "If you all survive, I hope we meet again." She gives me one last glance before jumping onto her boat which is...a giant turtle...yet another strange thing we can add to our growing list of Grand Line oddities.

Once she sails out of sight, Vivi falls to her knees. "That woman...I have no idea what's going through her head…"

"Then don't think about it." Nami responds.

"Besides, we have someone on this ship just like that." Zoro adds.

"Hey, could someone please explain what's going on now?" Usopp demands. "My brain's going in circles!" Yeah, an explanation would be good right about now.

One long and detailed explanation later, everyone's up to speed. Baroque Works is bad, Princess needs to go home to Alabasta, and big Pirate Warlord who leads Baroque Works now wants us dead. Good to know.

Once we all dispersed to go back about our duties, I find Vivi and her duck standing on the back of the ship, staring out at the ocean. I slowly walk over to them and hear Vivi talking. "I just don't know Carue…" Vivi was saying to the duck (so that's it's name?). "I know that Luffy and Zoro are strong but...can they really stand up to Baroque Works and...Crocodile?" Carue lets out a sad squawk and I walk over to them.

I tap Vivi's leg, catching her attention, "Oh, it's you." she says. I smile and jump onto the railing so I can see her face to face. "What was your name again?" Vivi asks. "Pikachu." I answer.

Vivi nods, "Right, and the others call you Pika-chan?" I nod. Vivi gives me a small smile back, "I'm sorry that you got handled by Ms. All Sunday like that." she says, almost out of nowhere.

I shake my head and wave my paw, "Pika pika." _'Don't worry about it.'_

Vivi's smile fades, "Wait...is your name all you can say?" she asks. "Pikachu. Pika pi." I say with a nod. It's been a while since I heard that particular question.

Vivi's eyes widen and she stares hard at me, taking in my every feature before shaking her head. "No, it's impossible." she mutters.

"Pika?" I ask, tilting my head.

"Forget it, it's nothing." Vivi says, waving her hand with a smile. I don't think that was nothing… that was almost the same look Ms. All Sunday gave me when she was holding me. In fact, now that I think about it, Ms. Monday gave me the exact same look before I knocked her into next week.

First Ms. Monday, then Ms. All Sunday, and now Vivi...all of them have connections to Baroque Works...could that mean…?

I shake my head; no, there's no way. I didn't get any flashes or headaches when I saw any of those guys or even when I heard the name. I know for a fact that I've never seen any of them before so that means I didn't know them in my past.

While I do feel relieved, I now feel curious...if I have no idea what Baroque Works is...how do a few members seem like they know who I am? Well, we're most likely gonna have to face them once we get to Alabasta. I'll think more about it then; maybe I'll get more flashes of my memory, enough to actually put the pieces together and fill out a few of those figures. In the meantime, let's just focus on getting there.

So our next stop is Little Garden, the place where Ms. All Sunday claims they 'won't have to lift a finger' to kill us?

Meh, I think we can handle it.

* * *

 **The mystery of Pika-chan grows! *plays Twilight Zone theme* I love this quirk about Sanji: if you threaten a friend in front of Sanji, your gender no longer matters.**

 **I'm hoping when Alabasta rolls around Pika-chan will get some more alone time with Vivi. With how angsty this arc is, she'll need to vent to SOMETHING!**

 **Little Garden next followed by Drum! I've been looking forward to these since Day 1, can't wait!**


	29. Little Garden

**Before we begin, I recall a few people commenting that it would be hilarious if Pika-chan became a human. And yes, I do agree that could be comedy gold, but I feel like that would be a perfect filler episode if Pika-chan truly existed in OP.**

 **Ever since I started this story, I've had TONS of filler running around in my head, different shenanigans for Pika-chan to go through, but I feel like this story will become too huge if I include them here.**

 **So, my proposition is to make a side story, separate from this one where all the filler can run and play. It would be a lot easier than incorporating them into the plot and it could even be a place where AUs come into play. I could even take ideas and prompts from reviewers as chapters go on.**

 **What do you guys think? What do you think about a separate story full of filler for Pika-chan? In the meantime, onwards! To Little Garden!**

* * *

Today the weather is just awesome. The sun is shining, the sky is clear, and there's nothing but clear oceans on all sides! I really hope the weather on the Grand Line stays like this; taking naps in weather like this is almost paradise, and I'm sure Zoro will agree with me. Speaking of Zoro, I'm currently dozing on his leg as he leans against the railing.

"Aw darn, no snow this time." Luffy says.

"Snow in this weather?" Zoro asks.

"Sure it already happened once," Luffy answers. "You just missed it 'cause you were asleep."

Honestly, I'd really prefer no snow right now. Maybe when it got hotter I could stand some snow, but now, no thanks. I'd like to enjoy my nap being warm thank you. My ears twitch as the sound of clinking glasses enter my hearing range.

"Hey guys!" Sanji calls. "Anyone care for a special drink?" Oh Sanji, you always know how to make a great day even better! I quickly get off Zoro and jump over the rail with him and Luffy and we all sit on the deck, drinks in hand. I sip it through my straw and savor its cool sweet flavor making me squeal happily. It was just cool enough to hit the spot. Carue grabs a straw in its beak and takes it out.

"No no, like this." Sanji instructs, redirecting the straw back into the drink. Carue gets the idea and drinks the whole glass dry in one gulp. "Well, you're sure thirsty, have another." Sanji says, giving him another drink.

We all watch in amazement as Carue drinks through another and another and still another. Man, this thing can drink! Well, luckily he has a limit because after a few more he looks light-headed. I burst out laughing with the others as Carue topples over from sweetness overdose causing me to spit out the last of my drink. I drop my glass gently as I fall over, laughter racking my body; I haven't laughed this hard in a while.

After a few minutes we hear splashing. I jump onto Sanji's shoulder and we look as a dolphin leaps out of the water. "Hey, a dolphin; pirate's best friend!" Sanji points it out to the others.

"Beautiful!" Nami says with a smile.

We watch as it jumps towards us...or...right over us. The thing is almost a hundred feet long, holy Kyogre! "It's HUGE!" we all exclaim. The dolphin lands in the water with a large splash, making a huge wave.

"Let's go!" Luffy suddenly orders and everyone quickly moves to adjust the sails and the rudder.

Ooh, I think I know where this is going! A few moments later, the dolphin emerges from the water again, but this time it's behind us. I run up onto Merry's head as the animal lands in the water and the Merry catches the giant wave it makes. "Pikaaa!" I squeal happily, gripping the horns on the head. I always love it when we get big waves like this! It makes it feel like we're on a ride!

"Which way now, Nami?" Luffy asks.

Nami checks the pose. "Port side, full!" she announces.

"Turning full!" Everyone yells.

"Pikachu!" I chime in and the ship turns back on course. I look ahead and squint as something comes into view. Was it our next stop? "Pika pika!" _'I see an island!'_ I exclaim, pointing ahead. Everyone comes to the front of the ship and Luffy joins me on the head.

We all watch as the island comes closer and Nami checks the pose again. "No doubt about it; this island and Cactus Island are definitely pulling against each other. That's our next stop!"

The island comes ever closer and I take it in while Luffy giggles excitedly behind me. It looks really green so it must be a plant heavy island. "This is it!" Luffy picks me up and looks at me excitedly, "Our second island on the Grand Line!" he exclaims, holding me high.

"Pikachu!" I respond happily. This is pretty exciting; maybe this will be the island that has a clue to my past! I don't want to get my hopes up but who knows? We approach the island and sail right into it; the ocean split through the island making a kind of river through it. I sit on Luffy's shoulder as we gaze at the tall trees that start passing us.

"I can see why they call this place Little Garden." Luffy says.

"Pika…" I say a tad uneasily; if this is supposed to be a garden, it's not one I've ever seen.

"This island looks pretty harsh if you ask me," Nami comments, indirectly voicing my thoughts. "Why call it Little Garden?"

"Y-Yeah, it looks like a jungle out there!" Usopp stammers. "Maybe we should skip this one!" I roll my eyes. Yeah, if only it were that easy.

"The only way to reset the pose is to go ashore." Nami points out flatly.

"Not to mention we're in dire need of restocking our food supply." Sanji adds. That's a good point. Hopefully this jungle has something good to offer; there's bound to be plenty of animals and plants we can eat in there. I jump off Luffy and onto the railing as we sail deeper into the island.

"Think they'll have a Bar-BQ restaurant here?" Luffy asks randomly.

"We didn't come all this way for Bar-BQ!" Sanji snaps.

"But I thought you said we needed to get food." Luffy continues innocently.

"As in supplies we can cook later!" Sanji clarifies. I swear, Luffy is secretly a five year old that somehow got trapped in a teenager's body.

"I don't know…" Nami says unsurely. "Usopp might be right, just look at the plant life; I haven't even seen stuff like this in books!"

I suddenly cringe as loud screeches begin coming from the trees; have I mentioned that I sometimes hate having sensitive ears? Nami and Usopp both cover their ears with me and I slip off the railing so I don't topple off the ship from the painful screeches.

"You're so adorable…" Sanji says with a grin to Nami. Arceus Sanji, are we really doing this now?!

"Thank you." Usopp says with a smile.

"That's not funny, I was talking to Nami!" Sanji snaps. I snort and give Usopp a small thumbs up that he returns; nice move there.

"What was that?" Nami asks once it dies down. I take my paws off my ears and they twitch...why do I hear flapping?

"It's alright love," Sanji says calmly. "It's just a bird, perfectly harmless; nothing to worry about." Okay, the flapping is getting louder and something is coming towards us!

I turn just in time to see a giant bird with huge talons heading right for Sanji! It's gonna snatch him up and the idiot doesn't even realize it! I jump onto the railing behind him and give the bird a good electric attack. The bird falls into the water and everyone looks pretty shocked from the close encounter (no pun intended).

"Thanks Pika-chan." Sanji breathes staring at the bird with wide eyes. I give a nod and a wave. Geez, being the only one here with animal instincts could really be a hassle; one day we won't be so lucky.

"It was big, probably could've been tasty." Luffy comments, watching the bird float away on the water. I dunno, I think I overcooked that one; probably wouldn't be good even if Sanji worked his magic on it. We all jump as there's a loud explosion.

"Is that the sound you hear in a normal jungle?" Nami whimpers.

"That sounded like a volcano! We're all gonna die!" Usopp wails. My ears suddenly twitch and I look towards the jungle. Something's coming; something bad. I growl and get on all fours, at the ready to fight.

"What is it?" Sanji asks. I continue to growl and bare my fangs as a large tiger comes out of the trees. Nami and Usopp back away from the railing as the tiger walks along the shore with the ship. We both growl and stare at each other, not willing to show any weakness when the tiger lets out a pained roar. I stop growling as the tiger suddenly keels over, blood pooling around it; I didn't even realize it was injured!

"Okay, I know normal, and this is not it!" Nami exclaims. Well, this _is_ the Grand Line; I thought we went into this knowing that normal wasn't going to be the status quo.

"Log pose and food be damned, we're not setting foot on that island!" Usopp yells.

Nami nods, "We can still reset the pose on the ship; we'll just sit tight and wait until then." she agrees.

After a while, we finally drop anchor. I gaze at Luffy uneasily as he laughs almost maniacally. "Sanji, go make lunch." he says. My ears perk up. "Make it a great big pirate lunch with lots of meat and no veggies! I'm gonna need lots of energy!" Sanji and I smile knowingly; of course Luffy wants to go out and play in the big dangerous jungle! Wouldn't have it any other way!

"What? No, you're not leaving here!" Nami exclaims. "What do you even want to do?"

Luffy's practically glowing with excitement. "You know, fun stuff." he says vaguely. I sigh; there's really no point Nami, he's going. "C'mon Sanji, I'm starving!" Luffy says.

"Be patient, I'll have it out as soon as I can." Sanji says, waving his hand. I follow Sanji towards the kitchen when we overhear that Vivi wants to go with Luffy. She figured exploring would keep her busy until the pose reset. Now she's starting to think like a pirate!

"Vivi, if you're going out, I'll make you a lunch too." Sanji says.

"Thanks!" Vivi responds. "And while you're at it, could you fix something for Carue?"

I think that's something I can handle. "Pika pika!" I respond with a wave.

"Just leave it to us." Sanji says and we head into the galley. Sanji handles the pirate lunches and I manage to whip up a sweet fruit drink for Carue. He loved those drinks from earlier so much I figure he might appreciate this, as long as he doesn't drink it all in one go. Good thing I know how to make fruit juice thanks to all the times I've helped Sanji make those tangerine drinks for Nami.

A little while later, we reemerge, food all ready. Sanji puts the lunches in Luffy's backpack and puts the drink I made into Carue's barrel, securing it around his neck. Soon enough, Luffy, Vivi and Carue are off into the jungle.

"That Vivi, what a girl…" Usopp mutters. "So brave…"

"Well, what do you expect from someone who infiltrated the enemy's ranks." Nami points out.

That's Vivi for ya.

A few moments later, Zoro heads over to me. "I'm bored; I'm gonna take a walk." he says.

"A walk?!" Usopp exclaims. Zoro simply nods and jumps onto land; Arceus if he gets lost in there we'll be stuck here forever.

"Hey Zoro!" I look beside me as Sanji comes to the edge of the ship. "We're kinda low on food; if you find any edible animals, bring 'em back here."

Zoro shrugs, "Sure." he turns to go. "I can see why you'd want to send me..."

Oh no...Zoro don't you dare!

"...Cause I could bring something back that you couldn't handle."

I facepalm. _'Dammit...'_

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sanji demands. "You saying my hunting skills are inferior?"

Aaaand here we go again. I sigh and raise my tail, absorbing the electricity from the glares they're giving each other and Sanji jumps off the boat onto land next to Zoro. "Winner brings back the most pounds of meat." he declares.

Zoro scoffs, "What do you mean pounds? I'll bring back tons!"

"Just shut up and let your hunting to the talking!"

I sigh irritably and jump off the boat. "Pika." I scamper down the path after Sanji. _'Wait up, stupid.'_ If Sanji goes into this place alone and unarmed, he's bound to find trouble somewhere in a place like this. I know Sanji can handle himself, but he almost got eaten by a giant bird earlier. His kicks may be deadly against people, but animals were new territory, plus his legs are still flesh and blood, who's to say another tiger won't jump out and bite them clean off?

Sanji looks down at me beside him, "Now Pika-chan, if we run into something I don't want you helping me out," he says. "No lightning and no tail attacks; this is between me and the moss-head."

I roll my eyes, "Pika pi…" _'Yeah yeah, I'll let you have your little man contest.'_ I give him a look. _'But don't come crying to me when you get a limb torn off.'_

We walk for a while longer when my ears twitch. Something's close, I can feel it. I open my mouth to tell Sanji. "No help, Pika-chan." he says without even looking at me.

I close my mouth and inwardly groan. This was gonna be a long trip. Sanji's stops after another minute and glances around. "I feel like we're being followed."

I roll my eyes. _'I could've told you that five minutes ago!'_ My instincts were telling me that it was something big and definitely dangerous. I turn around and- yep, a giant dinosaur.

...Wait, what?! Seriously?! There are dinosaurs on this island?! A bit of drool lands on Sanji's head making him turn around. I trot away as the dinosaur snaps at him. Sanji jumps out of the way with a glare at the dino, "Can't you see I'm busy?" He glances over at me as I sit against a tree.

"Pi pikachu." I say waving my paw. _'I know, I know, no help; do your thing.'_

"Collier Coup!" Sanji jumps up and kicks the dino right in the chin making it fall flat on its back. The dino gets back up after a few moments, roaring at Sanji. "Rude son of a bitch!" Sanji yells running towards it. He avoids another snap from the dino, leaps up, and kicks the dino right in the skull, slamming it into the ground.

I wince as the dino twitches and stops moving before I get up and head back to Sanji. "Not a bad haul." he comments. I shrug and nod; for the first catch of the day, this was pretty good. I guess it was just lucky that we happened to come to an island filled with freaking _dinosaurs_!

Sanji gets a thick vine, ties it securely around the dino and starts dragging it off. I decide to hitch a ride on top of it; again, if I can't help carry, I might as well take advantage. I can hear Sanji talking about how he's obviously won the contest and that Zoro doesn't stand a chance causing me to roll my eyes. These stupid contests are really starting to grate on my nerves. We turn a corner and meet up with Zoro, who's also dragging a pretty big dino along with him.

"Zoro."

"Sanji."

They greet each other before simultaneously saying the same thing. "I'm the winner." A smile tugs at my lips as they both frown. "You've lost, dammit!" They say together again. I cover my mouth with my paws to stifle a laugh. At least these stupid contests could be entertaining.

A few moments later I'm sitting between them as they line their dinosaurs up against each other to measure them. "Mine is bigger moss-head." Sanji points out. He's right; his dino's tail is about a full foot longer than Zoro's.

"Idiot! This is about weight not size!" Zoro retorts. "And mine is obviously way beefier than yours!" That was true as well; Zoro's dino had a lot more meat on its bones.

Sanji laughs. "Who cares how husky it is, all that matters is how much can be cooked, and you're carrying all bones there!"

"That thing you're lugging around is nothing but muscles and skin!" Zoro bites back. Oh Arceus, is this ever going to end?

"I'm not gonna waste time arguing with you." Sanji sighs. "I'll go kill another just to shut you up."

"Fine then I will too!" Zoro says. "I won't let you cheat me out of my win with some dumb technicality!"

I sigh and shrug helplessly. There is no hope for these two whatsoever. I grudgingly follow Sanji as we walk in the opposite direction of Zoro deeper into the forest. We walk for a couple more hours but find nothing at all. Before I know it, the volcano lets out a loud bang; the signal. Sanji and Zoro had agreed to limit their hunting time to the next volcano explosion so I guess our hunt is over.

"Dammit, that was the signal and I have no game to bring back." Sanji mutters.

I jump up on his shoulder. "Pika?" I ask expectantly.

Sanji looks at me and sighs, "Yes, you can help if anything comes at us." he says in defeat.

 _'Yes!'_ I pump my fist in victory.

Sanji goes back to where we left the dinos and see that Zoro's catch is still there. Weird, I thought we would have met up with him again. "That bastard better not be cheating." Sanji mutters as he grabs the vine.

I give him a look and face the forest. "Pikachu." _'Knowing him, he just got lost again.'_

Sanji chuckles. "Yeah, you're probably right."

We both freeze and look at each other. Sanji could usually read my expressions but that was _way_ too accurate to be a coincidence. It was as if I had actually just talked to him in his language. Have I really been with him long enough for him to translate what I'm saying? Or did one of us have some unknown telepathic power we didn't know about?

We both decide to think about it later; we have to get back to the ship. I walk beside Sanji this time instead of riding the dino and we eventually get back to the ship to find it...empty? That's weird.

"Pika?" _'Where is everyone?'_ I jump on the railing but I see and hear no one. Didn't Usopp and Nami want to stay on the ship? Maybe they went to explore to kill time.

"Huh, where is everyone?" I hear Sanji say. Sanji leaves the dino next to the ship to slice up later and surveys the empty ship. "Guess we're the first ones back." he says.

"Pikachu." I say with a nod. Looks he's back to just reading my expressions, but still...was that one sentence both in our heads...or did we really just speak to each other? Well, nothing more we can do now; I'll think about our communication when/if it happens again. Best not to get my hopes up if it turns out to be a fluke.

Sanji leans against the railing and I lie on top of Merry's head; Luffy can kick me off later. I relax at first, but then I start to get concerned. A few hours had already passed and there was no sign of anyone, not even a yell to let us know where they were.

I jump off Merry's head and jump on the railing next to Sanji. "Pikachu pi." I say worriedly.

Sanji nods. "Yeah, this is getting weird. Where could those guys be?"

I look at the thick trees and frown. "Pika, pi pika?" I ask pointing to the forest.

Sanji sighs. "I don't know; anything could have happened to Nami, Vivi, and the others on this crazy island!" We wait a few more moments just in case but we eventually give up waiting. "Looks like cooking this lizard will have to wait." Sanji says. I nod and I leap onto his shoulder as we jump off the ship.

We're about to enter the forest when my ears pick up a low growl. Sanji hears it too and turns to see a giant bobcat glaring at us from the trees. Looks like it was hungry. Sanji grins, "Well, this ought to save us some trouble."

One sharp kick from him and a shock from me later and we're riding the bobcat through the forest. "Nami-swan! Vivi!" Sanji calls. "Can you hear me?!"

"Pika pika!" I call loudly, cupping my paws around my mouth.

"My lovely ladies! If you can hear me, say something!"

I roll my eyes and continue calling. "Pika pikachu!" _'Luffy! Zoro! Usopp! Carue! Are you guys there?!'_ I jump onto the top of Sanji's head to get a better view.

"See anything?" Sanji asks.

I survey the area, listening for any tell-tale signs, but I get nothing. "Pikachu…" I say shaking my head. Just then, something comes into view. The bobcat stops and Sanji jumps off, me still on his head. I slide down to his shoulder and we take in the sight. It's...some kind of little house. It's completely white and smells like wax.

"What's this?" Sanji wonders. I jump off his shoulder and walk up to the house. I run my paw over it; it doesn't just smell like wax, it's _made_ of wax! Sanji comes up behind me and tests the door to find that it's unlocked. We peek inside to see a small table and chair along with a hot pot of tea and a few teacups. I wander further into the house, keeping an eye and ear out for anything dangerous, but the house came out clean.

"Pikachu." I say. _'It's safe.'_

Sanji walks in after me and sits down at the table. I jump up on it and the smell of the tea enters my nose. I don't know how, but it's fresh, and it smells great! I don't know how it happened, but the next thing I know, we're sitting peacefully, tea in two cups, relaxing as the sun streams through the windows. Sanji and I both sip our tea, relishing its hot flavor. It really hits the spot after having to endure that hunting trip.

"Pika…" I sigh happily.

"Earl Grey is always best in the afternoon." Sanji sighs.

Um, as good as this tea is, aren't we supposed to be looking for our friends? Friends that could be in danger? Sanji's bound to remember eventually.

"Wait!"

There he is.

"We shouldn't just be sitting here; Nami, Vivi, and the others may need our help!"

"Pikachu." _'Took you long enough.'_

We get up to leave. "I gotta wonder though," Sanji admits. "What's a nice place like this doing in the middle of this creepy jungle?"

I shrug. _'Your guess is as good as mine.'_ I tense up as I suddenly hear something ringing. Sanji stops and we both turn towards a basket that's shaking. I trot over to it and slowly open the lid. "Pika?"

Sanji steps up behind me and looks inside. "A Transponder Snail?" He lifts it out of the basket and places it on the table. I jump up next to it as Sanji picks up the receiver. "Yeah, hello, you've reached the Crap Cafe, can I take your order?"

I cover my mouth and snicker as the snail is silent. After a few moments, it speaks. "You can quit fooling around now, jackass." I shudder; that voice definitely didn't sound friendly. "Your report's a little late, don't you think?"

Sanji frowns. "My report?" he asks. "And who exactly am I speaking to?"

The voice responds, irritated. "Me. Mr. Zero."

Sanji and I look at each other and frown at the snail. We had just answered a phone call to one of the seven Warlords of the Sea.


	30. Mr Zero

**Nope. Nope, nu-uh, nope. I don't have over 300 reviews. Nope. No way in hell. The review counter's broken. There's no way people like this story this much. No way. Nope. Nope. Nope-ity nope nope no. *internally screaming* 8D**

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"It's been a long time since I issued your orders Mr. 3." Mr. Zero says. Mr. 3…? "What's happening on that island?"

I could see Sanji putting the pieces together in his head. Whoever this Mr. 3 was must have built this place, like a hideout. And if Mr. Zero was calling him, that meant they were probably on the island after Vivi! I hear Sanji curse under his breath and I mentally kick myself; I really hope our little detour hasn't screwed over the others.

"Well, what's your answer?" Mr. Zero asks, his patience clearly wearing thin. "Have you eliminated Princess Vivi and the Straw Hats?"

I look at Sanji; guess we'll just have to roll with it. "Yeah, the mission was successful." Sanji said, pride in his voice like he actually had killed them. I forgot how good an actor he could be. "I got rid of all those pesky brats like you said."

"I see." Mr. Zero says. Wow, he actually fell for it! Does this Mr. 3 guy really sound that much like Sanji or is Mr. Zero just stupid? I doubt that it's the latter, but it would be hilarious if it was. "As we speak the Unluckies are heading your way to confirm this and deliver a package."

Uh, the Unluckies? Who were they? "Ah of course, the Unluckies." Sanji says, keeping his cool. "And a package?"

"It's an Eternal Pose to Alabasta." Mr. Zero answers. "Once it arrives you and Miss Golden Week will head to Alabasta; it's time for a very important operation." Geez, this sounds like a pretty big deal. "Details will follow once you reach Alabasta."

My ears suddenly twitch as two figures appear in the windows. From what I can tell it's an otter, wearing a polka-dotted outfit and a vulture wearing aviator goggles...okay…

My eyes widen as the vulture spreads its wings revealing a machine gun and the otter took out two razor sharp seashells. _'Crap...'_

"Mr. 3, what was that?" Mr. Zero demands.

"Uh...nothing." Sanji says. The vulture spreads its wings completely and leans forward; the next thing I know, Sanji has grabbed me and ducked behind the table as gunfire rings throughout the air. We peek out once the gunfire ceases. "What the hell is that?" Sanji demands. We duck again as the vulture opens fire, shattering the tea set. We get up and the otter bolts towards us, razor shells at the ready.

"Pika!" _'Oh, you wanna play, huh?'_ I charge up my tail and jump, and with a hard swing, I nail him in the back of the head. The otter slams into the wall and slides to the ground lifeless. Sanji gets up and faces the vulture who tries shooting us again.

I jump behind the table again and Sanji flips around the bullets, grabbing the vulture's neck with his ankles. "So what are you gonna do now, you oversized chicken?!" Sanji twists his legs, there's a snap and the vulture falls down dead. Does this mean we get to have dinosaur meat with a side helping of vulture for dinner? I breathe a sigh of relief and jump up on the table.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Mr. Zero demands. Oh crap. I clap my paws over my mouth; I _really_ hope he didn't hear me!

Sanji quickly picks up the receiver. "Hey, sorry about that; that damn Straw Hat was still alive." he lies quickly. "But don't worry; I finished him off for good this time."

There's a beat of silence. "So are you telling me that your report earlier was a lie?"

"Well, yeah I suppose, if you put it like that." Sanji answers. "But I've finished them off for good now, so there's no need to send anyone after them anymore."

"Very well." Mr. Zero says. Phew! Thank Arceus! "Take the Pose and head straight to Alabasta." he orders. "We'll have no more radio contact from now on; all of my orders will be sent via letter. That will be all Mr. 3. Good luck on your mission." And with that, he hangs up.

Sanji and I let a breath I didn't know we were holding and Sanji puts the receiver back on the snail. I jump off the table and step around the dead animals. "Who were these guys?" Sanji wonders. "They sure are funny looking."

I can't help but think that maybe these guys were the Unluckies Mr. Zero mentioned. If they are, Mr. Zero has some strange henchmen. I stop as my paw suddenly taps something on the ground. I pick it up and realize it's a Pose. It's bigger and fancier looking than Nami's and has the word Alabasta written on the top. It reminds me a lot of the one Ms. All Sunday gave us before. "Pika." I call, turning to Sanji.

He kneels down and I hold the pose up to him. "What have you got there?" He takes the pose and looks at it. "A Pose, huh?" I nod. Sanji puts it in his pocket. "Nami may know more about it; let's get out of here, we've gotta find the others."

I nod and follow Sanji out the door. The bobcat from before had smartly fled leaving us to walk. A strange scent suddenly fills my nose, "Pika?"

Sanji looks at me. "What is it?" he asks. I sniff the air and my ears twitch. I trot off in a certain direction with Sanji following me and we find the source after a few moments. The ground is scorched in a few places and many plants and tree branches are broken; a fight had definitely happened here. "They must be close by." Sanji says.

"Pi." I nod. We follow the trail of destruction deeper into the forest; luckily it got bigger the further we went. We would probably find hints of the others soon; hopefully they were okay. Sanji suddenly flinches and slaps his neck. "Pika?" I look up at him but he waves his hand.

"Just a bug bite." he says. I smile and nod; I was surprised we had even gone this long without being eaten by bugs in a dense place like this. We keep walking until we hear voices. I jump onto Sanji's shoulder as we enter a clearing where all the Straw Hats are waiting. Almost everyone's clothes have been burned off leaving just about all of them topless. I wince a bit as I take in their injuries, but they're alive which was all I need.

Sanji's eyes light up and I sweat drop; here we go… "Nami, my dear! Vivi, my love! And the rest of you! You're all still okay!"

I swallow the urge to shock him and wave. "Pika pika!"

Luffy waves back with a big smile. "Sanji! Pika-chan!"

Sanji walks towards them when we notice something that we surprisingly didn't notice before, namely two freaking giants! "What the hell is going on?!" Sanji exclaimed, voicing my exact thoughts. "Is one of you guys Mr. 3?"

Nami frowns. "How do you know Mr. 3?" she asked, but Sanji of course doesn't listen.

"Oh Nami! That outfit looks amazing on you!"

I bite my tongue to keep my lightning down. That wasn't even an outfit! "Say that again!" Nami threatens dangerously, but Sanji shrugs off his coat, prompting me to jump down.

"Now Nami, if you stand around like you'll catch a cold; take my coat." He offers placing it around her.

"Oh, thanks." Nami says, surprised at the gesture. I sigh and jump on a log; it was hard to remember that despite all the flirting, Sanji did actually care.

"Where were you two, anyway?" Usopp demanded.

Sanji sits next to me on the log, "Well, we actually just got done talking to a Mr. Zero over a Transponder Snail."

"M-Mr. Zero?!" Vivi exclaims.

"Pika pika!" I confirm with a nod. "I was talking to him in some weird hideout and he thought I was some guy called Mr. 3." Sanji explains. "So I let him believe it and told him that we were all dead."

Vivi slowly nods in understanding. "So he thinks he doesn't have to send people after us anymore." she concludes.

Usopp on the other hand doesn't sound too thrilled. "Oh great! We finally stop getting chased and we can't even leave this place!"

"Pika?" I tilt my head to one side; what did he mean we couldn't leave?

"We can't leave?" Sanji asks, voicing my confusion. "Do we still have to take care of something here?" He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the Alabasta Pose. "That's a shame, since Pika-chan and I found this thing."

Everyone gapes and stares at us like we had fused together into some freaky monster. "Pi…?" I ask nervously, but Luffy breaks the silence.

"ALRIGHT! AN ETERNAL POSE TO ALABASTA!"

I watch with a confused smile as everyone starts cheering. I guess we had just saved us a lot of trouble to get to Alabasta. Vivi runs over and throws her arms around Sanji, "Thank you so much Sanji; I was really starting to get worried that we wouldn't make it!" she cries happily.

"No no, it was my pleasure!" Sanji says with a blush and hearts in his eyes.

Vivi releases him and then faces me. "You too Pika-chan, thank you!" She says, picking me up and giving me a kiss on the head.

I blush slightly and rub my head sheepishly. "Pika pika…" _'It was nothing, really...'_ I inwardly smirk at the hint of jealousy on Sanji's face. Being naturally cute had its perks sometimes!

Vivi puts me back down and Zoro walks past us. "Zoro." Sanji gets up. "So, you forget about our little hunting contest?"

Zoro stops but doesn't turn around to face us, "Nope. Hate to say it, but you lost; I caught a rhino this big." he says smugly, holding up his arms to indicate size. I doubt that's the actual size, but whatever.

I jump back onto Sanji's shoulder as he walks towards Zoro, scratching his neck a bit; probably just the bug bite from earlier. "Doesn't sound very tasty but I guess you can eat it." he comments.

I smirk at the two of them as Luffy, Usopp, and Vivi bid farewell to the giants. "Pika pikachu." _'Sanji, no matter what you make, it always tastes good.'_ Sanji gives me a pat and we head out in the jungle back towards the ship. Unfortunately though, when we got back…

"See? I told you mine was bigger; I win!"

"Look closer, mine is much bigger!"

"Are you blind? My rhino is way bigger than your stupid lizard!"

I sigh from my spot on the upper railing next to Nami as Zoro and Sanji are at each other's throats once again. "It doesn't matter; they both look tasty!" Luffy chimes in.

"Shut up Luffy!" Zoro and Sanji yell together before going right back at it like nothing happened. My ears droop; if they keep this up we'll be here all day.

Nami sighs loudly, "Bunch of kids, aren't they Pika-chan?"

"Pika." _'You can say that again.'_

"We don't even need all of it, just cut up what we need so we can get out of here!" she yells. Sanji seems more than willing to comply (of course), but Zoro…

"Hey Usopp; would you tell the stupid cook that I'm clearly the winner?!"

"Ehh, I really don't care." Usopp responds with a shrug. Now Zoro, bringing others into this is just plain immature!

"Can't you just agree that it's a tie?" Vivi suggests.

"I don't believe in ties, I fight to win!" Zoro responds crossing his arms. Arceus, he really _is_ a kid! Nami looks like she's about to explode but I hold up my paw to silence her. She shouldn't strain herself over something like this. I give her a knowing smile and hop down between the two of them. I close my eyes, calm and collected, before letting loose a standard electric attack on both of them.

They both fall over twitching and I tap the dino with my paw. "Pika pika pikachu!" _'Just cut the damn dinos and let's get out of here!'_

I hop back onto the boat and Nami scratches me behind the ears, "Nicely done, Pika-chan." she says proudly. I squeal, accepting her praise and in a few minutes, the meat is cut up and we're ready to set sail.

We start moving, Luffy whining about how we should've taken more meat. Dude, there's no way we can carry anymore; can't you be happy that we got freaking dinosaur meat in the first place?

"Are you actively trying to sink this ship?" Nami asks. Legit question, Nami.

We continue onwards, following the giant's instructions to keep sailing straight. "Hey look!" Luffy exclaims, pointing ahead. "The giants must've come to say goodbye!" Sure enough, the giants are standing on either side of the river leading to the ocean, capes billowing in the wind.

"A great danger still lies ahead of you." One of them says.

"It's a danger that's always been here, to prevent ships from reaching the next island." The second one says.

"Have faith in our words; go straight no matter what happens!" The first one says. Luffy gives a firm nod and we sail onwards. I have a really bad feeling about this… The giants say a final farewell and we enter the sea.

"Look! Over there!" Nami yells, pointing ahead. Something large emerges from the water and everyone screams. I cling to Sanji and squeal in fear as a giant orange and white fish makes itself known.

"What the heck is that?" Luffy wonders. "A goldfish?" Who cares what it is, it's gonna eat us!

"Usopp, hurry and get to the rudder before we're eaten!" Nami yells.

"Yeah but…" Usopp hesitates and swallows. "We have to keep going straight, right Luffy?" Luffy nods and I can feel my insides freeze in terror.

"Don't be a moron Luffy!" Nami yells. "This isn't going to be anything like with Laboon you know!"

"Yeah I know," Luffy says calmly. "Here, have the last rice cracker."

Nami catches it despite voicing that she doesn't want it. "If we don't turn the ship right now, that thing is gonna eat us!"

Carue squawks and runs into the storage room and I shiver madly on Sanji making him take me off his shoulder. I cling to his chest as he holds me protectively.

"Luffy, you sure we can trust those pals of yours?" Sanji asks. Luffy simply nods again.

"You mean we're willingly sailing into a beast's belly?!" Vivi demands.

"It's too late to turn now!" Nami screams. I cling to Sanji tighter as the sky disappears and it starts to get dark. And finally, the mouth of the fish begins to close. I squeeze my eyes shut and scream with everyone else as Sanji tightens his grip around me and darkness surrounds us. I can barely hear Usopp and Luffy yelling for us to keep going straight.

Suddenly, a loud crash is heard in the distance. I open my eyes as a strange red and blue shock wave passes through the fish. The next thing I know, there's a giant gust of wind, and bright light and the ship is sailing through the sky. I slowly smile as the image of the blue sky and the sea becomes more beautiful with every second.

I pry myself from Sanji's death-grip on me and climb back onto his shoulder, closing my eyes as the salty sea air hits my face. The ship jerks as it lands and shoves us in the direction of the Eternal Pose.

We were off to Alabasta...or at least, that's what I thought.

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 **I'll just say this: If you saw it...you KNOW where the next chapter is going X3**


	31. Fever

It only took one look at Sanji for me to know that something was wrong.

His breathing was very heavy and labored, like he had just run a hundred miles. He shouldn't be that tired, we had missed all the action after all. He was making a bunch of sweets for snacks and putting some on a platter to bring to Nami and Vivi. But with the way he looked, I was afraid he would drop it. I imagine he was going to make the others eat in the kitchen or something.

I tug on his pant leg and point to the sweets for the boys. "You wanna help?" he asks.

I nod and hold up my paws. He places the platter on top of my head with my paws balancing it and I slowly make my way out the door with him, keeping an eye on him. His breathing is still heavy, but he looks like he's getting over it.

I make my way over to the boys while he approaches the girls and offer them the platter. They immediately snatch it off me and begin chowing down. I look over at Sanji who's talking to Nami and Vivi as they keep an eye on the pose. Vivi's probably really anxious to get home; I would be too. In fact, I kind of am, if we ever come across it...

I look at Sanji and notice that he looks a bit on the pale side. Maybe it's just a trick of the light...hopefully that's all it is. Sanji eventually makes his way back to the kitchen but he's walking slower than normal. I follow after him, my fear beginning to grow. I had a really bad feeling and it wouldn't go away. Sanji pulls out a chair and slumps into it, his breathing even heavier than before.

"Pikachu?" I ask worriedly, approaching him.

Sanji puts a hand on his head, "I...I don't know Pika-chan…" he says softly, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. "I think...I just need to rest."

I nod firmly; rest definitely sounds like a good idea. But the minute Sanji gets up, his legs collapse under him. "Pika!" I run up to him and get a good look at his face. His eyes are shut tight and his face is red, screwed up with pain. I place a paw on his forehead and pull back quickly; he's on fire!

I run out to the deck where the others are and leap onto the railing. "Pika! Pika pika, pikachu!" I yell frantically and point towards the kitchen.

Luffy looks back at me with a questioning gaze, helping to catch everyone's attention. "Pika-chan?"

"Pika pika, pika pi!"

"What's wrong Pika-chan?" Nami asks as everyone comes towards me.

"Pika pikachu!" I run inside and lead everyone to the kitchen where Sanji lay. I run up to him as everyone gathers around him.

"Sanji?" Luffy asks, concern already a showing through.

Vivi feels his forehead. "He's burning up!" she exclaims.

"You mean he's sick?!" Usopp demands.

"Pika pi…" I say softly, placing my paw on his arm. I should have known something was wrong…

* * *

A little while later, we had managed to get Sanji to Nami's bed where Vivi dabbed his forehead with a cool washcloth. I sit by his side on the pillow watching him carefully.

"Hey Nami, why don't we give him some meat or something, like what you did with the limes that one time." Luffy suggests.

Nami sighs, "It's not that simple Luffy; scurvy is one thing but a fever is another. Food won't make a difference unless we know what's wrong with him, not to mention that he's too weak to eat."

I frown as I watch Sanji's heavy breathing. This is the first time I've felt this worried. We're in the middle of the ocean and Vivi is the only one here who knows about sickness. She took his temperature and it came out as 104 degrees. "Oh no, this isn't good!" she exclaims.

This isn't something that he can just sleep off, we need a doctor. Our best bet is probably Alabasta, but Nami said it would probably be another week until we got there.

"Maybe we're overreacting." Luffy says. "It's just a fever right?"

Usopp shrugs, "I don't know, I've never been that sick."

"Morons!" Vivi snaps. "Can't you see, this is really bad! He shouldn't have this high a fever unless he's fighting an infection; whatever this is could be life threatening!"

That's enough to get the rest of the crew to freak out.

"YOU MEAN SANJI'S GONNA DIE?!" Luffy screeches.

"YOUR SCREAMS AREN'T HELPING!" Nami shouts, but it does little to console everyone.

"WE'VE GOTTA FIND A DOCTOR TO HELP SANJI BEFORE HE DIES!"

"Please calm down, you're only going to make him feel worse!" Vivi pleads, but the screams fall deaf on my ears. I grit my teeth to keep my tears back as the panic in the room piles up along with my own. It's taking everything for me to not break down! I should have made him rest or told someone the minute I thought something was wrong!

I suddenly feel a familiar hand on my head, "Don't worry Pika-chan...I'm fine." I look at Sanji in shock as he slowly sits up, catching everyone else's attention too.

"Pika!" I cry, grabbing his sleeve; I don't want him to push himself.

"It's just a little fever, nothing I can't handle." Sanji says a reassuring smile on his face. I grit my teeth; he's trying to act tough for the girls again! Is it just impossible for this guy to worry about himself for once?!

"Yay! He's cured!" Luffy cheers only to get a smack from Usopp and Nami.

"We can't waste time finding a doctor…" Sanji says, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed. "We have to hurry and get to Alabasta." he looks up Nami. "Nami...you know why."

Everyone turns to Nami. "What is he talking about Nami?" Vivi asks, worry lacing her voice.

Nami clenches her fists, conflict in her eyes, until she finally sighs, "I'll be right back." A few moments later, Nami returned with a newspaper article in her hands and gave it to Vivi. Apparently the uprising in Alabasta had escalated and it wouldn't be long before bullets started flying. And to make matters worse, that article was three days old already. In short, if Vivi didn't get back and set things straight soon, lots of people were going to die. Nami had told Sanji about this a while back when he was bringing her a drink, so he knew how bad the situation was.

"We don't have time to hunt for a doctor, we need to get to Alabasta." Sanji repeats, "Besides that thermometer's probably broken; it's not that bad, I'm probably just exhausted." My worry grows as he slowly gets to his feet and heads towards the stairs. He turns towards Vivi with a smile, "Thank you for your wonderful medical expertise my dear Vivi."

I frown and scurry up the stairs after him, giving the rest of the Straw Hats and determined look. Someone has to keep an eye on that clown and I'm the one to do it. As expected, I found him in the kitchen; he probably thought cooking was the best alternative to get his mind off things. I frown and leap onto the counter, which he's leaning heavily against.

I step towards him in concern as his breathing becomes more shallow. It's like he's struggling for air with every breath. "I'm fine Pika-chan." he says. "It's not that bad, I'm just tired."

I reach up and feel his forehead again, catching him a bit off guard. I keep it there for a few seconds until my paw actually turns red and starts steaming a bit. I yelp and bring it away, waving it rapidly to cool it off. "Pika pika pikachu!" I say angrily. _'You shouldn't be up you idiot! You need to get back to bed!'_ With a fever like that, Sanji is in no condition to be walking around, he needs rest!

"I said I'm fine Pikachu." Sanji says irritably. "Just drop it, okay?"

I wince at his tone. It takes me a second to realize that he didn't call me Pika-chan...

I grip his sleeve, a lump coming to my throat. "Pika pika-"

"Dammit Pikachu, I'm fine!" he snaps, lashing his arm out and throwing me off the counter. I manage to land on my feet but stumble a bit, feeling my left paw bend a bit awkwardly. Sanji glares at me angrily. "Quit being such a pest, I don't need your help!"

I can't help but jump back; he had never spoken to me like that before! "Pika…" I say shakily.

Sanji turns away from me, "Just...leave me alone." he says softly.

With a heavy heart I slowly exit the kitchen. I take one last look at him at the doorway before heading back out on deck. Everyone was moving around, apparently moving the ship back on course.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Nami had left Zoro in charge of navigation when we were looking after Sanji. Worst decision ever.

I leap up onto the railing to stay out of everyone's way. I look at the ground feeling tears come to my eyes again. Sanji's sick and there's nothing we can do. We can't abandon Vivi and Alabasta but we can't just let Sanji suffer. Sure, maybe we can find a doctor when we get to Alabasta, but he probably won't even live until then, especially if he keeps denying that he's sick!

I close my eyes and grit my teeth when the door behind me opens. I turn expecting Sanji, but it's Vivi. She looks at me, noting my teary eyes and stands next to me. "I have to ask you all a favor." she announces, grabbing everyone's attention. "I know it's not my place but I would greatly appreciate it if we could go faster. We have to get to Alabasta at full speed."

Everyone looks at her and I can see slight conflict in their eyes. They're all just as worried about Sanji as I am. Nami walks over to her and places a hand on her shoulder. "Of course, that's what we promised." she says.

I look away to hide my disappointment. Vivi's right, Alabasta is more important... and it's what Sanji wanted; multiple lives are at risk and that's more important...right?

"Alright, then let's hurry and find an island with a doctor."

"...Pika?" I turn back to Vivi; did she just say what I think she said?

"Wait, didn't you say that we can't afford to waste any more time?" Usopp asks.

Vivi nods, "Exactly; so the sooner we find a doctor the sooner we can get there." she says. "And with Nami navigating we should be able to find one in no time." Nami smiles as well as the rest of the Straw Hats.

 _'Vivi...'_ I look up at her feeling tears in my eyes.

She smiles at me and lifts me up, patting my head, "Don't worry Pika-chan. We'll find someone to help Sanji, I promise."

I smile up at her and lean into her, giving her a small hug. "Pika...pika pi…" I close my eyes, letting my now joyful tears fall. _'Thank you, Vivi...'_

* * *

Vivi told Sanji the plan and, since it was Vivi's decision, he reluctantly agreed. I could tell he was grateful though and he allowed us to put him back to bed to rest. Nami allowed Sanji to use her bed so he could be as comfortable as possible and Sanji was too weak to protest.

"It's not that big a deal." Nami had said, waving her hand. "I'll just...charge him rent."

I smiled at that; despite being a thief, Nami has a real heart of gold. I guess she just didn't want to let on how worried she was, to keep the rest of us together. Vivi and Usopp helped change him into his pajamas so he felt more comfortable and soon he was sound asleep.

I stayed by his side the entire time, curled up next to his pillow. Vivi came down every now and then to check up on his condition, sometimes with Nami and Carue as well; thankfully, Sanji was too exhausted to flirt with them. But that was also cause for concern; a day had already passed and he was getting weaker, his fever still increasing.

Nami and Vivi knelt next to me, wrapped in winter coats. It had apparently started snowing a while back so the temperature had dropped; not good for a sick person.

"He doesn't look too good." Nami observes softly, replacing the damp cloth on his forehead. "His fever still isn't going down."

"At this rate, he won't last much longer." Vivi says worriedly.

"Pika…" I say sadly.

Vivi pats my head, "I know you're worried Pika-chan." she says gently. "We all are, but-"

She's cut off as the boat suddenly rocks. "What's going on?!" Vivi exclaims.

"Pika!" I cry, Nami and I holding onto Sanji to keep him from toppling out of bed.

"What the hell are those idiots doing?!" Nami demands. The rocking eventually calms down and voices can be heard on deck. "Vivi, stay here!" Nami says before running up the stairs.

I get into a protective stance in case the worse happens. We're most likely under attack and we don't want them raiding the ship now of all times. Whether it's Marines or pirates, I doubt they'll show Sanji any mercy just because he's sick. But I swear, if one of those scumbags up there even thinks about getting within a foot of Sanji, I'll electrocute them until there's nothing left but a pile of ash!

It isn't long before we hear gunfire and Vivi's eyes widen in fear. "Pika-chan, you and Carue stay here, I'll be right back!" We both nod as Vivi disappears upstairs.

We eventually hear the familiar noises of Luffy and Zoro fighting and Carue and I visibly relax. No need to worry once those guys were on the job. There's no way they'll let anyone get down here. Before we knew it, the noises ceased and we were well on our way. Nami and Vivi came back downstairs as well as Luffy, none of them injured.

"Pika pi?" I ask. _'What happened?'_ Carue gave a questioning squawk as well.

Luffy frowns, "Some weird pirates were in our way." he answers. Weird pirates? How weird are we talking?

"If we ever see that fatso again, I'm gonna punch his lights out!" Nami growls. "Do you know how much it will cost us to get more wood and tools if the Merry keeps getting torn up like this? And this guy had the gall to try and eat it!"

My ears wilt; he tried to eat the ship? Okay, that's definitely weirder than I expected. At least we got rid of him, so that's enough to keep me satisfied. We don't want anyone being eaten before we get help for Sanji after all.

* * *

 **For any curious souls wondering why I went with this butterfly-effecting change:**

 **A. Nami goes through enough shit in this series, she can stand a break for god's sake *Edit: And YES, I KNOW there was a perfectly good reason for Nami to get sick in the original. I thought about this before doing this change. And honestly, I don't think it would've mattered who got sick because it still would've strengthened Vivi's character, showing that she values her friend's lives before her own agenda. In fact, I think having someone else get sick here made this even STRONGER! Since Nami's still up and ready to navigate Vivi could've easily said to keep sailing and get to Alabasta and hope that they would find a doctor there, but instead she decided to put her plans on hold for Sanji because helping her friend get better is more important to her (Any SanjixVivi shippers out there, take that HOWEVER you want)**

 **B. I REALLY like Nami as a character, and it I HATE that she always has to take a back seat to the 'damsel in distress' scenario that this series loves to put her in. I'm hoping in the New World she'll have more shining moments that DOESN'T involve getting kidnapped (crossing my fingers)**

 **C. How could I POSSIBLY pass up a perfect opportunity for Sanji and Pika-chan sickness fluff?**

 **Speaking of fluff, be warned, this whole arc is gonna be chockfull of it. Those sensitive to overly cute and feels-y scenarios should read on with caution X3**


	32. Drum Mountain

**If you haven't figured it out already, I'll be updating this story weekly as best I can, either every Thursday or Friday (Saturday or Sunday if scheduling issues happen). Just thought I'd throw that out there.**

 **Oh and if certain parts of this chapter seem completely implausible or impractical, the only answer I can give is: anime logic XP**

* * *

The rest of the day passed and it seemed to last forever, yet Sanji showed no signs of getting better. He was sweating all over, his breathing was ragged, his hair was greasy and mussed, and I swear that his skin was hotter than the sun. Just being near him was like being right next to a bonfire. I had to get up and away from him multiple times so I wouldn't overheat.

All the Straw Hat members took turns watching him with me, sometimes bringing me little snacks and water. I had made it clear that I wasn't going to leave Sanji's side until he got better and the others didn't bother to tell me otherwise. Sanji is my best friend and his life is hanging in the balance, I'm not going to be satisfied until he's cooking in the kitchen, fighting with Zoro, and flirting with Nami and Vivi again. Sanji spent just about all of his time sleeping, though I think he woke up for a few minutes one time during the night when everyone was sleeping in the room with him.

The next morning, Luffy spent the day down with me next to Sanji. "C'mon Sanji, get better!" he whines. "It's just not the same without your cooking!" I can hear the concern in his voice. "If you don't wake up I'll...I'll eat all the food we have!"

He's like a child trying to guilt trip his parent into waking up. That surprisingly makes it even more tragic to watch. I sigh and stare at the covers as I lie next to Sanji.

"Hey, cheer up Pika-chan." Luffy says to me. "It's not like you, being this sad."

I don't respond; I really don't feel like dealing with him right now.

"C'mon Pika-chan! Smile!" I hear stretching and look to see...what the actual hell? Luffy had tied up his rubber face and drawn designs on his face (don't ask me where he got the marker).

He sticks his tongue out, wiggling it at me. I stare at him for a few seconds with an expression that was both confused and disturbed. "C'mon, just one little smile!" he says in a mock pleading voice. He's so innocent and naive, Mesprit bless him (Hey, another mystery word!).

I face the covers again but I can't help but let a smile tug at my lips; how can you not get sucked into this guy's happy attitude? "That's better!" Luffy says. "Sanji wouldn't want you to be all sad!" My smile grows a bit bigger at that; Luffy's right. I shouldn't be depressed, 'cause Sanji's gonna be fine! We aren't going to let him die!

I let out a tiny laugh as Luffy continues making his ridiculous faces when Zoro walks into the room. "What's going on Luffy?" he asks.

Luffy turns to him and gives Zoro such a shock that he falls over, making me laugh a bit harder. I didn't think it was possible, but my worry has gone down immensely. I turn back to Sanji and smile sadly before cuddling up against him. He's gonna be fine...right?

Luffy stayed down with me for the rest of the time, still trying to keep my spirits up. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't. Can't blame him for trying though. After a while, I hear words that I never thought I'd be so happy to hear.

"Island, dead ahead!"

"An island! Seriously?!" Luffy exclaims. He looks at Sanji, "Hear that, Sanji? We found a doctor to fix you! So wake up, c'mon!" Sanji doesn't stir but that doesn't douse Luffy's excitement.

"Just go look, I've got him." Zoro says after a few seconds. Luffy does just that and after a few moments, Zoro goes up and joins them. I catch a small smile on his face as he leaves; he's just as relieved as the rest of us. I smile as I lie back down next to Sanji; I feel like a giant weight has been lifted off my chest. He's saved! He's finally going to get help!

* * *

After a while, Luffy, Nami, and Vivi come down and I look at them expectantly. To my delight, Luffy has a wide smile on his face. "We've found a doctor!"

Nami sighs, "We haven't found one yet, the people said they'd bring us to one." she corrected. That was all I needed to hear. As they helped Sanji into his heavy coat I noticed that Vivi had a cut on her shoulder through her coat. She waved it off saying it was nothing so I didn't press the issue.

Nami helped Sanji onto Luffy's back and I jumped onto Nami's shoulder as we disembarked the boat and followed the townspeople, leaving Zoro and Carue with the ship. ' _Don't worry Sanji, you're gonna be okay soon.'_

We reached the town and the guy who I assumed to be the town leader brought us to his house. Vivi and Nami tucked Sanji into a bed, I took my place by his side, and the Leader told us more about this doctor. According to him their doctor was a witch, but that hardly bothered me. As long as she could make Sanji better I didn't care who the doctor was.

Unfortunately she lived on top of the tallest mountain and only came down to town when she felt like it. We can't afford to wait, Sanji could be dead by the time she got here!

I squeak in alarm as Luffy suddenly appears over Sanji and begins lightly slapping his face. "Sanji. Sanji. Hey. Sanji, wake up."

"Luffy! What the hell are you doing?!" the others yell. Surprisingly, Sanji actually woke up. He looked like he was trying to glare at him, but was too weak to even accomplish that. "Listen, the only way to see the doctor is to climb the mountain, so we're gonna climb the mountain." Luffy says, serious and straight to the point.

"Are you insane?" Nami exclaims. "How do you expect to get Sanji up there?"

"Easy, he'll ride on my back." Luffy answers simply.

"That will only make him worse!" Vivi counters.

"But I thought we had to hurry." Luffy argues.

"We do, but we'll never make it up that mountain! It's way too steep!" Vivi says.

"I can do it." Luffy says with a slight pout.

"Yeah, _you_ probably can, but there's no telling how it will affect Sanji!" Nami argues.

"So? If we fall we'll land in snow." Luffy points out.

"Falling from that height would even kill a healthy person!" Vivi says angrily.

"Seriously Luffy, he's about dying from a fever! Can't you understand that?" Usopp adds.

If Sanji were in any condition he'd probably be swooning that Nami and Vivi were so worried about him. I look at Sanji who was apparently taking in their argument until he finally got the strength to speak. "Hey…"

"Pika?" Everyone turns towards us.

"I need to...get over this...and fast." Sanji says, barely above a whisper. "We have to hurry...for Vivi…" He looks at Luffy and manages a weak grin. "Let's go, Captain."

Luffy grins and nods, "Alright! Leave it to me!"

"Pika…" I say softly.

"Great! Our cook is as crazy as our captain now!" Usopp complains.

"Sanji, you're in no condition to travel." Nami says, kneeling next to him.

"I'll be fine…" Sanji answers, his grin still on his face. I inwardly roll my eyes; inside he's relishing all this attention.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Vivi asks. "It'll take you hours to get there!"

"Pika pi!" I say, placing a paw over my chest.

I look at Luffy and he seems to get my message. "You wanna come too?" he asks.

"Pika!" I nod firmly; there was no way I was leaving Sanji now. I had already said I wouldn't leave his side until he got better and I meant it.

* * *

Before long, Sanji is on Luffy's back, tied to his waist and a sword sheath under his rear for him to balance on. Nami agreed to come with us, to help keep Luffy from doing anything stupid and I'm immensely grateful for that. Who knows, maybe she can find a shortcut to get up the mountain faster. The Leader guy had warned us about evil bunnies or something that live on the mountain; why can't we ever find an island without any monsters?

"Just hold on tight, okay Sanji?" Luffy says, still smiling with confidence.

I jump on Nami's shoulder, staring at the mountain that held the key to Sanji's illness and Nami gives me comforting pat. "Don't worry Pika-chan; we'll make it up there." she says. I give her a weak smile and nod; it's time to find us a doctor.

"C'mon Nami, let's hurry before Sanji dies!" Luffy yells, running towards the mountain.

"Don't say things like that, do you wanna jinx us?" Nami yells running after him.

We ran a good way up the mountain. We saw the evil bunnies like Leader guy said... well, we saw _one._ The thing kept trying to jump us while we were running. It was easy to just duck and jump around the thing, but after a while it got annoying combined with Luffy and Nami engaging in weird banter about winter places. Something about how people in winter countries never sleep and have really smooth skin, weird stuff like that.

Humans...

Finally, Nami got fed up and tossed the bunny away with a hard flick of her staff. "Get lost you little pest!"

Unfortunately, that probably turned out to be a bad idea. A few more miles up the mountain and we were suddenly surrounded by a whole horde of those damn bunnies! Great, now what?

"What?" I look at Luffy who's looking at Sanji. "What did you say?"

Over the wind, we barely pick up Sanji's words. "H...Hurry...V-Vivi...Alaba…" My heart nearly breaks at how weak he sounds.

"Hey, don't worry about that right now." Luffy responds in a surprisingly gentle tone. "Just rest, okay?"

Nami gives a sad smile, "Idiot...he barely ever worries about himself."

"Pika…" _'Sanji...'_

The bunnies glare down at us. "Out of our way, you stupid polar bears." Luffy says dangerously.

He takes a step towards them but Nami grabs his arm. "No Luffy! If you fight, Sanji will feel it; he's too weak to handle this!" Nami's right; we're in a real jam. Luffy can't fight while carrying Sanji, there's no way Nami and I can take all these things down, and even if we could, it would take us hours to beat them all, hours we didn't have. I let out a warning cry as the bunnies all jump towards us at the same time.

"What do I do then!?" Luffy yells.

"Just dodge!" Nami yells, narrowly dodging a mouth of fangs. "Dodge and protect Sanji!"

I jump off Nami's shoulder and leap towards one of the bunnies. I pick up speed and white energy surrounds me. I slam right into the rabbit's stomach, thankful for its thick fur to cushion my attack and flip away. The rabbit falls over but that was only one of many.

"Head for the forest!" Nami yells. I electrocute a few more bunnies and follow Luffy and Nami into the trees. We run until we find a tree that has a large uproot, creating a kind of cavern. Guess our luck hasn't run out yet.

We hide and Nami peeks out to make sure the bunnies weren't anywhere nearby. She rejoins us seconds later, her teeth grit and anger in her eyes. "They're everywhere, they're blocking the path." she growls.

My heart sinks; how could this happen now of all times? I look at Sanji who looks worse than ever. His breathing sounds even more shallow than before and his face looks so red. It hurts just to _watch_ him suffer like this.

"Okay, you guys stay here." Luffy says, moving to remove Sanji from his back. "I'll get rid of those stupid bunnies."

Nami puts her hand on his arm, "There's no time Luffy!" she says firmly. "It will take hours to fight off all those things, even if _you_ take them on!"

"Fine, then you go on ahead with Pika-chan and get to the doctor." Luffy suggests but Nami shakes her head.

"There's too many of them." she says. "You'd need more than one person to distract all of them; if you go alone then others will definitely follow us."

I clench my paws and grit my teeth; was there really nothing we could do? I suddenly feel eyes on me and I look up to see Luffy staring at me. He looks like he's having some kind of inner conflict with himself. Wait, he has the brainpower to do that? I never pegged the kid to have a conscience.

Finally, he spoke. "Pika-chan... _you_ get Sanji to the doctor." Wait, _what?!_ "Nami and I will take care of the bunnies while you go."

Is he insane?! Actually, stupid question. But still, why me? Sure, I know where to go, but how could something as small as me possibly carry a grown man like Sanji all the way to the doctor?

To my surprise, Nami isn't debating with him, she actually looks contemplative. "I have an idea." she says, taking her backpack off. She pulls out a bundle of thick rope, a tarp, and a sleeping bag. "Luffy, help me get Sanji in here." she says.

Luffy starts to untie the rope around his middle, "Sure but...why do you have a sleeping bag?" he asks.

"In case Sanji needed more warmth." Nami answers. "We have to keep him as comfortable as possible." Oh, if only Sanji were conscious enough to hear that… All of a sudden, Luffy takes off his jacket. "Luffy, what are you doing?" Nami demands.

Luffy firmly wraps his jacket around Sanji, "You said we have to keep him comfortable." he says.

"Yeah, but you'll freeze to death out here without a coat!" Nami argues.

Luffy shrugs, "I'll be fine; it's not that cold." he says. "Besides, Sanji needs it more."

 _'Luffy...'_

Nami opens her mouth to say more but ultimately decides that it's pointless to argue. "Alright; let's get Sanji in here." she says, unrolling the sleeping bag. Soon, Sanji is safely secured in the grey sleeping bag like a giant cocoon. Nami then takes the tarp and wraps it firmly around the outside of the sleeping bag before securing the rope tightly around it.

"Okay; c'mere Pika-chan." Nami says once she finishes. I wait as she fastens a kind of loop around the remaining ends of the rope and slips my head through it, making a kind of harness. The rope is tied in such a way that the rope wouldn't slip off if the end was pulled.

"Now you should be able to get Sanji to the doctor." Nami says, examining her work. "The snow is smooth and you're small enough so that dragging him shouldn't disturb him too much."

"Wow Nami, you're amazing!" Luffy exclaims. I smile slightly; Sanji would probably say the exact same thing. Nami and Luffy peek out from our hiding spot again to make sure the bunnies aren't coming our way.

"Alright, we can draw them away if we split up." Nami says. "Then Pika-chan should have a clear path."

I gulp, glancing back at Sanji. Can I really do this? If I fail then Sanji is as good as dead. I flinch as something large covers my head. I look up to see Luffy placing his straw hat on my own tiny head.

"Get Sanji to that doctor." Luffy says, all joking gone from his expression. "We'll catch up as soon as these bunnies are toast."

I stare up at him, the brim of the hat barely falling over my eyes, my bent ears keeping it up and balanced. I don't know why but I suddenly feel like everything will be okay; like someone is watching over me as long as this hat stays in my possession. I stare into Luffy's eyes and give a firm nod.

I can do this; I have to do this. For Sanji. For my best friend.

Luffy and Nami nod and spring out from our hiding place. "Hey you stupid bunnies!" Luffy yells. "Come get some!"

I wait as Nami and Luffy engage in combat. I pull the rope harness and drag Sanji out from the uproot and around the tree, the wind and movement making Luffy's hat fall back onto my back, the string keeping it on my body. Just like Nami planned, there were no bunnies around. This is my chance. Gritting my teeth, I run as fast as I can, dragging Sanji behind me.

Thankfully, like Nami said, the snow is smooth and almost ice like, making it easy to drag the slippery tarp across it, like pulling a sled. And because I'm so light, I'm not sinking into the snow. I don't dare look back as I ascend the mountain; I just have to have faith that Luffy and Nami will be alright and find us later. With the reassuring scratch of Luffy's hat against my back, I run up the mountain path, dragging my partner behind me.

 _'Just hang in there Sanji...'_

* * *

 **If you're having trouble picturing this just think of an Eskimo sled. Pika-chan is the husky and Sanji is the sled (and so is Rosebud XD (Kudos if you get that reference XD ))**

 **Also, am I the only one who wants more scenes where Luffy has to give his hat to more people (other than Nami)? Its just really sweet whenever he does it and I like seeing Luffy's protective side X3**

 **Review and give Pika-chan the strength to CLIMB THAT MOUNTAIN!**


	33. Frostbitten

**I just read chapter 806 of the OP manga. Oda, I swear to fucking god you're going to give me gray hairs...**

* * *

I ran for a long time and didn't run into any trouble either. Either Luffy and Nami were really going to town taking care of those bunnies or this place was too cold even for furry creatures like them to handle. I swore at one point I heard something that sounded like an avalanche, but I ignored it; I had no time to waste.

 _'Luffy, Nami, you better catch up to me...'_ I try to run faster but the wind is getting stronger. The top of the mountain where the doctor is is so close; I just have to get Sanji there. By now I'm running on pure will and fear. I just keep chanting to myself that I have to get there for Sanji. I keep saying it like a mantra, hoping it will help me brave this cold.

Eventually, the wind gets so strong I have to slow to a walk. I can't waste all my energy running or I'll never make it. I decide that I'll walk for a while to catch my breath, then I would run again. Actually, that's a stupid idea; I'm on a mountain, I can barely breathe now!

The wind is so cold it feels like hundreds of swords are stabbing me over and over again. I glance back at Sanji to make sure he's still breathing, and he is, thank Arceus. _'Just a little longer...'_ I continue to trek through the deepening snow. _'Don't you dare die on me...just hang on, please!'_

Finally, at long last, I reach the top of the mountain; the home stretch to the doctor. It's a rock formation that goes straight up, and the doctor is at the top. No turning back now. Glancing at Sanji one more time, I take the rope loop around my neck and bring the bottom half up to my face, placing the ropes between my teeth. It wouldn't do any good to choke while I climbed.

 _'Well...here we go.'_ Articuno give me strength...

I place my front paws on the freezing rock and manage to get a pretty good hold. I lift my back paws and manage to get off the ground. Now I just have to get Sanji off the ground with me; I hope Nami's knots are strong enough to withstand gravity.

I chomp the ropes as hard as I can as I begin to lift Sanji off the ground and drag him up the cliff. My jaw aches as the ropes pull down from Sanji being lifted. His dead weight is so heavy that my head pulls back and I almost fall backwards off the cliff, but I refuse to fail when I'm so close! I'm practically at the doctor's doorstep, and I'm not going to let my best friend die because I was too weak to climb a stupid mountain!

I manage to keep my hold and continue to climb, Sanji and I slowly inching up the side of the cliff. Good thing Nami made it so Sanji's head was pointing at me so he wouldn't be upside down. I inch up the cliff as much as I can, making sure I have a good hold before pulling myself and Sanji up.

The air was getting so thin and cold that I had to focus on breathing more than climbing at many points in time. I keep my face very close to the face of the cliff to keep the weight from pulling my head back and risking falling again. I carefully glance back at Sanji every now and then to make sure he's still secure; if I drop him, that's it. If I lose my grip and fall, that's it.

I climb and climb as the sky gets darker and darker the higher I get, Luffy's hat beating against my back from the wind. I must have been climbing for a few hours and I'm still not anywhere close to the top. My paws are starting to feel numb and I can barely feel the rest of my body. I feel like a bag of frozen fur trying to lift a hundred pounds of rocks...and that's kinda what I am.

There were many instances where I almost slipped because my paws had no more feeling. Luckily, that meant I couldn't feel the cuts and scrapes the slippery rocks were giving me due to my skin splitting. I barely managed to save myself, Sanji only swinging a little whenever that happened and only loosing a little height. Luckily, the ropes around him show no signs of breaking or slipping off. Thank Arceus for you Nami...

My jaw is sore from having these ropes pull down on me, but I ignore it, along with the bloody paw prints I'm leaving behind as I climb. With every step I tighten my grip on the rocks, because one slip adds more minutes to my climb which could be vital to Sanji's survival.

The snowy wind is so strong that if I didn't have Sanji weighing me down I probably would be blown away. It was as if the doctor was trying to ward me away with an icy barrier. Is this some cruel trick to test travelers to see if they're worthy of getting to this doctor?

My fur is practically coated in ice, the cold eagerly nipping my bare skin underneath. I'm probably on the verge of freezing to death, but I don't care! I have to keep going! Luffy is counting on me to save Sanji and I'm going to do just that! I'm too high to stop now!

Either we both live or we both die, and I know we aren't planning to die anytime soon! Sanji has to find the All Blue! I have to find my home! Until we achieve those dreams, I'm not letting death get anywhere close to Sanji or myself!

When I finally feel snow and a flat surface above me, I think I'm hallucinating. But when I hoist myself up onto the top and see the giant snowy castle before me, I almost cry from joy. I turn around and pull Sanji the rest of the way up until we're both safely on top and away from the edge.

I spit out the rope, ignoring the copper taste in my mouth and the specks of red coming out with it. I limp over to him, and sure enough, he's still breathing. But my job isn't done yet. I slip my head through the now bloody loop of rope and drag Sanji to the giant front doors.

My joints are stiff and cramped, begging me to rest but I ignore it. I lift my paws and push with the last of my strength. The doors slowly creak open and I drag Sanji inside. The warmth of the castle compared to outside is almost too much for me. I look up to see two blurry figures approaching me; that has to be the doctor!

"Pi...ka…" I collapse to the ground, exhausted and freezing. I feel small appendages take the rope off of me and I open my eyes halfway. I slowly get back onto my feet and limp over to Sanji. "Pi...pika…" I place my front paws on the sleeping bag and collapse on him, not even realizing how red, raw and bloody my paws are. _'Help him...please...'_

I feel thin bony arms pick me up while I see a large burly figure gently pick up Sanji. That's weird, wasn't there just a small guy and a tall guy? I'm too tired to think about it. I hear voices echoing around me.

"This little thing carried this kid all the way up here...?"

"That's three miles of sheer rock...!"

"The poor thing's whole body is on the brink of frostbite…"

"Does this guy have an infection…?"

"He's dying…"

"It's not from anywhere on this island…"

"Get some hot water ready for this little thing…"

I open my eyes barely, and turn to where Sanji is being carried. "Pi...pika…" I choke out, reaching out towards him. "Pika...chu…" I can hear the desperation in my voice and so can the person holding me.

"That kid is your friend, isn't he?" the voice asks. I let out a stiff nod and I swear I can see the figure holding Sanji tense up slightly. "Don't worry, I'll save him." The voice reassures, and for some reason, I believe it. "Chopper, let's begin treatment!"

I feel myself moving at a brisk pace, Luffy's hat disappearing from my back. The next thing I know, I'm placed in a tub of hot steaming water. I feel my limbs loosen up and defrost slowly as I deflate into the heavenly water. I feel the same small appendages from before slowly press around my joints, helping to loosen them and get blood flowing back into me.

Eventually, I'm taken out, dried off, and wrapped in warm blankets. Someone carries me to a room and places me on something soft, probably a bed. I want to go find Sanji, but I'm just too exhausted to think anymore.

I fall asleep in seconds, mystery words and giant snow bunnies swirling in my head like the blizzard outside.

* * *

 **I can hear the skeptics now: _But Pika, there's no way a one foot tall mouse could climb a cliff with a body attached!_**

 **Behold the power of anime-logic, willpower, loyalty, and adrenaline! *puts on sunglasses* Deal with it.**

 **But even so, the mountain climbing scene in the show is another cringe worthy moment for me. I lost one of my nails as a child (long story) so seeing Luffy's fingers and nails getting mutilated like that actually made me turn away from the screen. So of course I had no problem making a cute little Pikachu go through all that XD (it actually helped that Pikachus don't have nails XP )**

 **And if you're wondering where Wapol is, well, the guy is pretty slow. It made sense that he caught up to Luffy because NOT ONLY was he carrying two unconscious people, but if you think about it, they started out going up the mountain, then the avalanche happened, bringing them a good few miles BACK DOWN the mountain, and then Luffy had to trudge back up at a snail's pace in below zero weather with a friend who was sick and another with a broken spine. (God, Drum is freaking BRUTAL!) So since Pika-chan was able to go straight up the mountain without any issues (with a running start as well), it makes sense that Wapol wouldn't have caught up (it makes sense to me anyway...)**

 **Up next, the moment you've all been waiting for! Give it up for our favorite little reindeer doctor, CHOPPER!**


	34. Healing

**For those who noticed last chapter when I said Pika-chan opened the door when entering the castle, that was a derp on my part. I kinda forgot that the doors were always open XP**

 **So just ignore that one little tidbit if you would, that door is still open and the inside is still snowy. Also, there's not TOO MUCH Chopper interaction here, but fear not, there shall be plenty to go around in later chappies, cause remember, Pika-chan's a softie when it comes to tragic backstories X3**

 **In the mean time, MAJOR FLUFFS DEAD AHEAD! PLEASE READ ON WITH CAUTION!**

* * *

Despite having the best night's sleep of my life, I was a bit disappointed that it couldn't last longer as I woke up. I'm still wrapped in a cocoon of blankets and I'm in some kind of small room. All of the memories from yesterday come flooding back to me; we had made it to the doctor's castle. That makes my worry for Sanji go down immensely; Sanji is in professional hands now, so he should be safe. At least...I hope he is. If I was too late, I would never forgive myself.

I take another look around my room, spying a sink and another empty bed. Is this where the doctor treats patients? If that's the case then where's Sanji? Was he given a separate room from me? He was way worse off than me so it would make sense. I then notice that all four of my paws have been carefully wrapped in bandages; they must've looked pretty bad after climbing that cliff.

My door opens catching my attention. My eyes widen as a reindeer with a blue nose and pink top hat, walking on two legs comes through the door. Now I've seen everything.

"Oh, you're awake." he says, in a high pitched voice. "How are you feeling?"

I can't help but notice that he sounds nervous. I give a nod and a small smile.

The reindeer seems a bit surprised at my response for some reason. "Oh, that's good." He looks at me, as if he's expecting some other reaction from me. He walks towards me slowly. "I'm gonna check your bandages, okay?" he says. I nod, still confused about the fear in his voice. I let him check my paws, and he's very gentle. I recognize the way his own paws feel my own; was this the one who took care of me? "Okay, you should be fine, you just might feel a little chilly for a while; just keep those bandages on, okay?" he says.

I nod. "Pika pikachu!" I say gratefully and he seems taken aback. Was he not expecting me to be happy or something for helping me?

"W-Well, I gotta go!" he says hurriedly and rushes out the door. I frown and remember Sanji; I want to check on him. Now is as good a time as any. I jump out of bed, my bandaged paws only feeling a bit sore from the impact. That reindeer really did his job.

I trot out of the room when I hear a yell that sounds like the reindeer followed by a crash. I follow the sound but it goes as quickly as it comes. I then hear an unknown voice, followed by one that I know so well.

"Keep it down Chopper! ...Your fever's gone down several degrees; that's good."

"Where am I...?" I light up and run towards the voices, ignoring my sore paws.

"You're in the castle on the mountain; I'm the island's only doctor, Doctor Kureha, but you can call me Doctorine." I reach a doorway and skid to a halt just as I hear the unfamiliar voice again. "I must say, you've got a tough little friend."

My expression lights up as I see Sanji sitting up in a bed with a woman standing next to him. "Little friend?" Sanji asks with a frown.

I can hardly contain my excitement and joy! He's awake! He's okay! "Pika!" I cry, running at top speed towards him.

Sanji spots me and his expression becomes a mixture of surprise and relief. "Pika-chan!" he exclaims happily as I jump onto his bed and into his arms.

I look up at him and my heart soars. He already looks ten times better! "Pika! Pika pi, pikachu!" I jump onto his shoulder and nuzzle his face; I've never been so happy in all my life! Sanji laughs before removing me to hold me in his lap.

"This little thing brought you all the way up here." I look up and finally see the face belonging to the voice. It's an old woman, but she actually looks and acts quite young. So she was the doctor? I guess that made the reindeer her assistant. "You're pretty brave; with your small body, it's a miracle it didn't shut down from the cold." she says to me. I guess adrenaline can really work wonders if it wants to.

Sanji looks down at me in surprise, "Pika-chan...you brought me here all by yourself?" he asks.

"Pika." I nod. His eyes fall on my bandaged paws and widen ever so slightly; he gently squeezes them, probably getting an idea of what I went through to get up here. I give him a reassuring smile that I was fine now and that seems to help.

"Wait..." Sanji suddenly tenses slightly. "Were there two others with me?" he asks Doctorine.

She shakes her head, "No, it was just you and the rat."

Sanji turns to me, a serious look on his face. "Pika-chan, where are Luffy and Nami?" he asks. I tense and my eyes widen in realization. Oh geez...I had almost forgotten about them. I look down with a frown and that only fuels Sanji's worry. "What happened to them?"

"Pikachu…" I say with a small shrug. There's no way I can do a charade of the sentence _'We were attacked by giant snow bunnies so they sent me ahead with you.'_

"You don't know?" Sanji asks, and I shake my head.

"Oh, that reminds me." Doctorine gets up and goes to the coatrack. "You probably want this back." She hands me Luffy's straw hat. I take it and my paws start to shake slightly. At least now I think I can get one part of the message out.

I turn to Sanji and gesture out the window with the hat and point to myself and to him. Luckily, he understands. "I see...they sent you ahead with me, didn't they?" I nod grimly. I really hope they're alright.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts as Doctorine sits on the bed next to Sanji and pulls down his collar. My eyes widen as I see multiple purple sores coating the side of his neck. Doctorine takes out a small compact mirror and positions it so Sanji can see too. "This was the cause of your fever." she says. "You were bitten by a poisonous tick that thrives in jungles with high heat and humidity."

Really? One little bug bite had caused this much trouble? "The bacteria it introduces lies dormant for five days, causing high fevers and infection, and judging by your condition when you were brought here, I'd assume you were sick for about three days." She puts the mirror away. "The pain you were feeling must've been terrible; however, it would have eased up in two days without any treatment."

Sanji's eyebrow rises. "Wait, my fever would have gone away in two days?" he asks.

Doctorine's expression turns dark. "Yes, because you would have been dead." My eyes widen as well as Sanji's. Sanji had practically been on death's door! If we had waited any longer to try and find a doctor then he would've been…!

Doctorine got up, "I thought this particular disease had died out centuries ago but I kept the antibiotic just in case." she said. "How on earth did you get exposed to this; were you walking around some ancient jungle?"

My heart skips a beat as I remember Sanji and I walking through Little Garden, Sanji slapping his neck and wincing. _'Just a bug bite.'_ Sanji apparently had connected the dots as well. That was the last time we were ever going to _that_ place, for sure. Little Garden has been officially deemed off limits!

Doctorine looks at us and laughs, "Well, you certainly are adventurous." She then roughly pushes Sanji back onto the bed. He was apparently still weak from the fever because he flops down like a rag doll. "Now rest up; your treatment still isn't done."

I step off of Sanji and sit on the mattress; I can tell he's not too keen on staying in bed for much longer. "How long until my fever goes down?" he asks.

"Well, this treatment usually takes about ten days, and even with medicine as advanced as mine, you still need about three days of bedrest." Doctorine answers. "So unless you want to risk more bodily pain and maybe death, you'll rest up."

Sanji's eyes widen and he sits up. "Three days? I can't wait that long!" he exclaims. "We have to get Vivi to Ala-"

I barely register Doctorine's movement as she pins Sanji back down to the bed, a scalpel at his throat. Sanji eyes the instrument fearfully as Doctorine's wrinkly glare bores into him. "A patient only leaves this castle if they're cured or deceased." she says with a soft and eerie laugh. "Sorry kid, but you're not going anywhere."

I definitely didn't expect that but I wasn't planning to argue. While I am worried about Vivi getting back to Alabasta, Sanji still needs rest and I wasn't going to complain about that.

Doctorine gets off Sanji and looks at me, "You." she says, pointing her scalpel at me, making me jump "You care for him right?" she asks. I nod without hesitation. "Then make sure he stays in bed; it's the least you can do as his friend." And with that, she exits the room.

Sanji and I both watch her leave with both fright and confusion. "Crazy old hag…" Sanji mutters, sitting up again. I can't help but agree. She's definitely a strange doctor. I put Luffy's hat back on my head and let it fall onto my back. I don't know why, but having this hat on makes me feel safe; it's reassuring.

I curl up on Sanji's lap and give him a small nuzzle. He smiles and pats my head, "I'm sorry I worried you." he says. I give him a small smile and squeal affectionately, pressing my face into his pajama shirt. I had had the fright of my life, but it was all over now.

"Pika-chan…" I look up at Sanji and realize that he looks upset. "What I said that day...in the kitchen…" he says. "I know it was probably the fever talking but...I shouldn't have said that to you."

My ears perk up as his words ring clear in my head. _"Dammit Pikachu, I'm fine! Quit being such a pest, I don't need your help!"_

Sanji turns his head away from me, his bangs covering his eyes. "I'm sorry…" he says, his voice full of regret. "I understand if you don't forgive me; you were just trying to help and I threw it in your face."

What? How could he possibly think that I wouldn't forgive him? Then again, he was asleep whenever I was next to him...My eyes widen as I remember that time where he woke up for a few minutes during the night. I wasn't sleeping next to him that time! I had slept on the floor that night because I was getting too overheated from Sanji's fever! He thought I was mad at him this entire time...

He opens his mouth to say more but I've heard enough. I leap onto him and cling to his chest. "Pika-chan…" he says softly.

"Pika...pika pi pikachu!" I say, looking up at him with glassy eyes and a shaky smile. _'Idiot...Do you think I would have dragged you up a damn mountain in a sleeping bag if I hadn't forgiven you?'_

Sanji stares at me, looking both stunned and touched before he wraps his arms around me. "Thank you Pika-chan." he says, his voice thick with emotion.

"Pikachu." I respond, nuzzling into his embrace. I then reach up and gently lick his chin, giving him a small kiss, causing him to hold me tighter. We stay like that for a while until Sanji gets back under the covers and goes back to sleep. I curl up right next to him in the crook of his arm under the warm blanket and begin to feel pretty sleepy as well.

But before I close my eyes, I see the reindeer peeking through the doorway staring at us. I nuzzle against Sanji and the reindeer's gaze hardens on me. What is he staring at? I don't pay it anymore mind as I close my eyes and drift off with Sanji.

* * *

 **'Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery. Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice. The spirit of self-sacrifice brings trust in the power of love.' -Morihei Ueshiba**


	35. Chopper

**For those who noticed the quote last chapter, honestly, I put that in because I was feeling deep when I wrote that. Expect a few more cause anime CAN get deep, especially when you're writing about it.**

 **Also a quick heads up: The next update may not be until next Sunday instead of Friday. If I can update on Friday then I will, but if Thanksgiving gets in the way, you'll just have to wait, kay? Onwards!**

* * *

"SAAAAAAAAAAANJIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Welp, that's a wakeup call I never ever want to hear again. I shoot up from under the covers and Sanji tiredly opens his eyes. He sits up just as the door bursts open and a familiar rubber boy bounds into the room. He's a bit roughed up with some bruises and looks a bit red from the cold, but other than that, no real injuries. I have no idea why I was even worried about him in the first place.

Luffy faces the bed excitedly a wide grin across his face as he looks Sanji over. "Sanji! You look all better!" he exclaims.

"I'm getting there." Sanji admits, a smile pulling at his face.

Luffy then turns his gaze down to me and he gives me a rough pat on the head, "Good job Pika-chan! You saved Sanji!"

I rub the back of my head and blush. "Pika pika…" I say with a sheepish smile when I remember a familiar presence on my back. I take off Luffy's hat and hold it up to him.

"Alright! My hat!" He takes it with a grin and places it on his head.

"Luffy! Where did you go?" I hear a familiar feminine voice yell.

"In here Nami!" Luffy yells. A few seconds later, a slightly bruised but otherwise healthy Nami enters the room followed by Doctorine. I should've known those two would be able to handle themselves against a bunch of bunnies. Nami's face brightens at seeing Sanji and she hurries over, "How are you feeling Sanji?" she asks.

Sanji gets a dopey grin on his face, "Much better now that you're here my lovely Nami!"

I sigh; yep, he's definitely better. My ears twitch and I turn to the other doorway; the reindeer is back. He's peeking out at all of us. I smile and wave at him. "Pika!" He flinches and everyone turns to him.

"Oh, it's you again." Sanji says plainly. The little guy must've taken care of him as well me.

Nami's eyes widen, "Is that… a reindeer?"

"Meat…" I look at Luffy who's drooling and the reindeer flinches in fear before vanishing from sight. "Come back here, meat!" Luffy yells and starts running after him. My ears droop; I really hope that little guy is fast on his feet.

"Your friend is quite energetic isn't he?" Doctorine says.

"You have no idea…" Nami mutters, shaking her head.

"Hey, what's the deal with that talking reindeer anyway?" Sanji asks.

"It can talk?" Nami exclaims.

"His name's Chopper, "Doctorine answers. "He's just a reindeer with a blue nose." Uh, _just_ a reindeer?

"But normal reindeer don't walk on two legs." Nami says.

"Or talk." Sanji adds.

"If he's different it's because he just ate a Human Human Fruit, that's all." My ears perk up in understanding. He's a Devil Fruit user huh? That should be my first guess for anything weird we see. "He's still a reindeer, he just has the ability to talk and walk upright." Doctorine continues. "And he's a doctor; I taught him everything I know about medicine."

So he _is_ her assistant. I look back at my bandaged paws and remember feeling him getting rid of the frostbite on my body. He must be really skilled.

I flinch as Nami's hands suddenly appear on my paws, looking them over, "Oh no…" Her eyes become full of worry. "I'm so sorry Pika-chan." she says sincerely. "Your poor paws...you must've been freezing!"

I shake my head and put on a smile, "Pika, pika pi pikachu!" I say, placing my paw on her shoulder. _'Don't worry; you did what you had to, and I'm fine!'_

I know she didn't catch all of that but she smiles in relief a second later, catching on that I didn't blame her in the slightest. In fact if it wasn't for her, I don't think I ever would've gotten up here in time! Thank Uxie she was blessed with that brain of hers.

Nami rubs my ears gently, "You're one brave little mouse Pika-chan." she says.

I blush and shake my head shyly, "Pika…" I say.

Sanji's hands joins hers on my head, petting me lovingly, "She's right you know." he says sincerely, and not just because Nami said it first.

I look back at Sanji and then back to Nami, feeling a bright smile cross my entire face. "Pikachu!" I nuzzle their hands happily and my tail even starts to wag a bit.

Sanji smiles, "C'mere you!" He pushes me over and starts to tickle me. It's gentle since he's still weak from the fever, but it's enough to get me to giggle. I escape from his attack and canter to the foot of the bed.

Nami laughs and stands up, "Oh no you don't!" I squeal as she picks me up and starts tickling me as well. She kneels back down where Sanji is and places me back on the covers. "You're not getting away that easily!"

Sanji and Nami both start a vicious attack of tickles and scratches causing me to squeal and laugh loudly. I squirm and flail as they show no mercy and keep me from escaping. My eyes are watering and my chest is starting to hurt; I just can't stop laughing! They eventually relent and I deflate on the bed tiredly; these guys really know how to wear me out.

I nuzzle Sanji and Nami pats me and I notice that Doctorine is looking at us with a strange look in her eye. I can't quite place what it is.

A few seconds later, Luffy bursts back into the room looking around. After a few moments, he pouts in defeat, "Darn, lost it…" Oh good, sounds like Chopper successfully escaped the rubber jaws of Luffy. "I know you're out there! Come on out!" Luffy challenges. Oh boy… I hope Chopper can escape a second time…

* * *

Once Luffy calms down, Doctorine makes some tea, mixing a special substance for Sanji to help bring down his fever. Once he drinks it, I place the ice pack back onto Sanji's head and he looks like he's ready to sleep again. I watch him as I nibble on a cracker Doctorine gave me. It's bland and crusty, but she said it's healthy so I might as well take her word for it.

Luffy suddenly stands up from his chair. "You should join my crew; please old lady, we need a doctor onboard!" He blurts out. Wouldn't expect anything less from Luffy.

Doctorine holds up a finger to Luffy, "Did you just call me old lady?" she asks.

"Yeah, why?" Luffy's answer is given to him by a swift kick in the face, sending him into the wall. Sheesh, this lady could give Sanji a run for his money.

"I'm still in my youthful 130s thank you." I nearly choke on my cracker; she's that old?! Good Arceus, she must be a real trooper!

"Wow, that's really impressive." Nami comments, talking a bit slowly in case she said something wrong. Luckily, she remains unscathed.

"Being a pirate would just be a waste of my precious time, and I'm not interested in a life on the sea." Doctorine says.

Luffy gets up, despite bleeding slightly, "Those are all lame excuses!" he says. "It's all about adventure, old lady!"

"Well, you're a slow learner…" Doctorine mutters. I nod in agreement when I spy the doorway. It's Chopper; he's watching us again. Unfortunately, Luffy follows my gaze and he easily spots Chopper. Well, to his credit, Chopper wasn't hiding very well; I think he was trying to hide behind the doorway but ended up getting it backwards.

Chopper screams and runs off, Luffy hot on his trail. "Wait, food! Come back here!"

"That's enough of that!" Doctorine gets up and begins sprinting after Luffy.

Nami groans. "Luffy, leave the reindeer alone, would ya?!" She yells after him.

The room is quiet for a few seconds until another door opens, leading the chase right back to us. I cover my ears as Chopper's screams fill the air along with Luffy's yelling. "Come back here meat! Let me eat you!" Luffy then grabs Nami's arm and yanks her to her feet. "C'mon Nami, once Sanji gets better he can cook this guy up for us!"

"Leave me out of this!" Nami retorts.

"I don't think so!" Doctorine suddenly appears, wielding two carving knives. "I'll cook the both of you up before that happens!" My ears droop and I grimace; Arceus she's scary…

Luffy and Nami both scream and all of them run out of the room. I don't remember who was supposed to be chased, but at least it's finally quiet. I turn back to Sanji as he groans. "Ugh, rubber idiot…" he mutters, putting the heel of his hand on his forehead. "Would it kill him to give me some peace and quiet?"

I sigh, "Pikachu…" _'I think being quiet at all **would** kill him.'_ I shudder as a cold wind rushes through the air. Sanji sits up slightly and we look to see that the door has been left open, leading to a frozen portion of the castle. Wait, what?

"Snow…?" Sanji asks out loud. "What the hell is that doing in here?"

"Pika." I say with a shrug. Either way, it's cold and I catch Sanji suppressing a shiver. I leap out of the bed, trot to the heavy door and push against it. But thanks to the wind, cold hinges, and my recovering paws, it's harder than it looks.

Sanji pushes the covers off and starts to move to get out of bed, "Here Pika-chan, let me-"

"No; you have to stay in bed." We both turn to see Chopper enter the room, looking around vigilantly. "You still have a fever after all."

Sanji looks thoughtful, "I don't know; it feels like it's gone down to me."

Chopper hurries over to the door and peeks out, still looking for Luffy. "Doctorine's medicine helps to reduce the fever, but the bacteria will stay inside your body for a while longer." After seeing that it's safe, Chopper helps me close the door before facing me. "Are your paws okay?" he asks.

I nod and hold them out for him to check. He looks them over expertly, "I'll change the bandages in a few hours; in the meantime, both of you just take it easy and stay in bed."

I nod and obediently jump back onto Sanji's bed.

"Hey," Sanji says, catching Chopper's attention. "Thank you." Chopper tenses up. "You're the one who took care of Pika-chan and I, right?"

Chopper looks at me and I smile. "Pikachu." _'Thanks for saving my friend.'_

Chopper's eyes harden, making me feel a bit uneasy. Did he understand what I said? "Shut up!" Chopper explodes. "I don't need thanks from you or any low-life human!" He suddenly starts laughing happily. "Don't mock me!" he snaps, but goes back to wiggling and smiling. "Oh nevermind that, I'm just being silly!"

Sanji and I give each other a look. "He's not very good at hiding his emotions…" Sanji says.

 _'You can say that again...'_ He's one strange little guy. Oh, that reminds me. "Pika." I catch Chopper's attention. "Pika, pikachu?"

Chopper frowns and tilts his head. "What was that?"

I frown slightly and repeat what I said slowly. _'Can you understand me?'_

Chopper squints like he's trying to pick up something on me. "You're asking...if I can understand you?" he finally says. I give a nod; I don't want to stress out his brain too much.

"You can understand Pika-chan?" Sanji asks, sounding a bit intrigued.

Chopper rubs his head, "Uh...sort of." he says sheepishly. "It's more like broken English to me; I've never heard your language before. It sounds nothing like any animal I've come across." Chopper looks at me and actually looks a bit contemplative; it's really adorable on that little face of his.

After a few awkward moments of silence, Chopper walks over to us. He slowly reaches towards Sanji as if he was some strange being. "So...is it true you guys are pirates?" he asks.

"Yeah, we are." Sanji answers.

Chopper gives Sanji's hand a hesitant tap, "Real pirates?"

"Real pirates."

"So you have a flag with a skull on it?"

"Yep, it's on our ship." Sanji pauses. "I'm guessing you're interested in pirates?"

Chopper jumps and backs away into the bookshelf like he's just been burned. "No! No way!" he exclaims. "Shut up, stupid human!"

Sanji raises his hands in defense. "Okay, calm down." he says. "But even so...how about you come with us?" Chopper looks at us as if he had just been asked to cut his own head off.

I look up at Sanji and can tell that he has a plan. "If you were onboard I wouldn't have to stay here for three days." he adds. I nod; that would help us get to Alabasta faster…

"No! Are you crazy!" I turn back to Chopper. "I'm a reindeer, I don't belong on a ship with a bunch of humans!" That catches Sanji and I off guard. Was this little guy afraid of humans? It certainly explained his behavior.

Chopper looks at the ground, "I mean...look at me." he says softly. "I'm a walking talking reindeer and animals shouldn't be able to do that!" He then points at me, anger coming to his eyes. "And you already have a pet on your ship so why would you want me?" I flinch at his tone.

Sanji frowns slightly causing Chopper to tense up, ready to bolt at any second. Sanji is pretty scary when he gets mad. "Pika-chan is not a pet," he says slowly. "Pika-chan is a member of our crew." I look up at Sanji in surprise. "And if you're trying to scare us off with the whole 'talking animal' thing, it isn't working." he adds.

"But I have a blue nose…" Chopper mutters. I tilt my head in confusion; what did that have to do with anything?

"THERE YOU ARE MEAT!"

Chopper screams as Luffy bursts into the room again. Sanji and I cringe as Luffy chases Chopper out the door once again.

"Dammit Luffy, just give it up already!" A breathless Nami enters the room followed by Doctorine. "That brat sure can run." she comments.

"You have no idea." Nami agrees with a soft laugh.

Doctorine sits back down at the table along with Nami. "I don't appreciate what you were doing there, kid." she says, catching Sanji's attention. "Trying to tempt my reindeer away from me without permission." Nami looks at Sanji in surprise and Doctorine shrugs before Sanji can respond. "But if you really want to take him away, go ahead."

 _'Huh?'_

"It just won't be as easy as you think." Doctorine suddenly frowns, looking wistful. "Chopper has a scar on his heart that even my medicine can't cure. Ever since he was born, everyone had turned their backs on him."

We listen as Doctorine explains that Chopper was born with a blue nose, which made him an outcast. Even as a baby, he was forced to walk behind the herd. And then, when he ate his Devil Fruit, things went from bad to worse. The other reindeer kicked him out of the herd, and when he tried to befriend humans, even they turned him away as a monster. That explained his behavior around humans.

Doctorine then looks at me, "I imagine he's more comfortable around you because you're different as well."

Sanji places a hand on my head, "What do you mean by that?" he asks.

"Your little friend is no ordinary creature, I'm sure you've figured that out by now." Doctorine says before looking at me again. "You're not a human, but you're intelligent and understand other humans; you're not a rodent, but you have the reflexes and likeness of one."

I frown in thought; I had never thought about it that way. I'm a tiny rodent creature who acts like a human; language, abilities, and appearance are the only things that keep me from being exactly like them.

"But the big difference between you and Chopper?" Doctorine continues. "You have friends who accept you and treat you fairly, and judging by what you went through to get your friend up here-" I feel Sanji's hands gently grasp my bandaged paws. "-you've been with them long enough to create a strong bond."

I look up at Sanji; we really have been through a lot together, haven't we?

Doctorine looks away, "I guess you could say Chopper is almost envious of you." Doctorine says, catching our attention again.

"Envious of Pika-chan?" Nami asks. My ears wilt slightly; maybe that's why he was staring at us earlier...

Doctorine nods. "It took much longer for Chopper to finally find acceptance, and only one person gave it to him."

That person, as we found out a few moments later, was Dr. Hiruluk. A seemingly crazy doctor and scientist who took Chopper in when he was injured and practically adopted him as his son. It was the first time Chopper had been shown any kind of love and affection in his life; I can only imagine how shocked and confused he must've been.

I have to wonder, what would I have been like if I had been in Chopper's position? What if Sanji wasn't there to stick up for me when I woke up on the Baratie, and Zeff and the other cooks just chased me endlessly? I would probably end up shocking anything that came within ten feet of me. I would just wander from place to place, with no idea of where I was going or who I was. I would be lost beyond all reason.

I realize that I was lucky; I ended up running into humans who didn't care about my species or that I had amnesia. And because of that I'm...happy. Against my will, images start to flash through my mind of my friends.

Cooking with Sanji...

Sparring with Zoro...

Fishing with Usopp...

Studying maps with Nami...

Sitting on the Merry's head with Luffy staring at the open sea...

Sanji or any of my friends petting me or scratching me behind the ears, and the feeling of happiness that follows soon after…

If I had been in Chopper's position, all these happy memories...they wouldn't exist. Chopper apparently began working as Hiruluk's assistant while he healed and tried to help him create the Cure-All, a supposed miracle medicine that can cure even the most fatal of diseases. It turns out Hiruluk even told Chopper about pirates; no wonder he seemed interested in us.

However, the happy times didn't last for Chopper. Once he healed, Hiruluk was forced to drive him away because he was dying from a disease. But Chopper refused to give up, and decided to look for a special mushroom that would help him. Chopper broke almost every bone in his body trying to get that mushroom, but it turned out to be all in vain.

The mushroom was poisonous.

Hiruluk knew this, but ate it anyway and killed himself shortly after by drinking a concoction that made him completely combust. Ever since that day, Doctorine promised to teach Chopper everything she knew about medicine, in honor of Hiruluk's last wish. And she did, for six long years since that day.

That poor little guy… He's been through way too much! Why is it that everyone we come across has some kind of tragic past?

"Doctorine! Doctorine!" My ears perk up at Chopper's voice as he bursts through the door, only he's on four legs and actually looks like a normal reindeer.

"Wapol is back!"

* * *

 ***victory music* That's right! Pika-chan's language barrier has been cracked, not fully broken! It may take some time, but I think we're on the right track for full blown translation soon *wiggles eyebrows***

 **And yes, Mushul IS making an appearance. He was the only aspect of Chopper Plus that I could incorporate and it actually worked pretty well in the end for this story so...yay!**

 **I know that movie is just supposed to be a 'what if' story, but the whole movie I was just pulling my hair out at all the continuity errors. The animation WAS pretty though, I'll give it that. But I'll talk more about it when the fighting starts.**


	36. Wapol Attacks

**HAPPY (late) THANKSGIVING FROM PIKA-CHAN, THE STRAW HATS AND ME! 8D**

* * *

"Wapol is back!"

My ears perk up; wasn't that the guy responsible for Hiruluk's death? Doctorine smiles, "Is he?" She gets up and walks towards the door.

"What is it?" Sanji asks.

Doctorine waves her hand, "Nothing you need to worry about; just stay in bed." Her tone is so nonchalant and casual that it just about sways me. But seeing Nami's expression tells me otherwise; something's wrong. She starts to follow Doctorine out of the room, her hand brushing her pocket where her staff most likely resides.

"Pika?" I ask worriedly.

Nami stops and faces me, "Don't worry Pika-chan, you just stay here with Sanji," she smirks. "Someone has to keep an eye on that idiot."

"Oh Nami, you're even more beautiful when you're insulting me." Sanji says with a grin.

I roll my eyes and nod, returning her smirk before stepping forward and touching her arm. "Pikachu." _'Be careful.'_

Nami gives me a pat and exits the room, leaving Sanji and I alone. "Wonder what all the fuss is about?" Sanji wonders.

I shrug, "Pika pika…" _'Hell if I know…'_ But I shouldn't be worrying; if Luffy could withstand a herd of mutant killer bunnies in below zero weather, I'm sure he can handle whatever's out there.

I walk over to Sanji and feel his forehead, "Pika?" I ask.

Sanji shrugs, understanding my question, "I still feel a bit lightheaded, but it's better than before." he says.

I nod in understanding and lie down next to him. It's quiet for a good few minutes (minus the occasional crash and shout) when the door bursts open revealing a shivering Luffy. "Cold...so cold!" He whines, rubbing his bare arms. "I need a coat and fast! Any coat will do!"

I tilt my head, "Pika?"

Sanji slowly sits up, "What's all the noise out there?" he asks.

"It's freezing, are there any coats anywhere?" Luffy asks, ignoring him causing Sanji and me to roll our eyes.

"Idiot, I asked what was going on out there." Sanji repeats.

"Just a fight." Luffy answers as he begins digging around.

Sanji raises his eyebrows in slight surprise, "Oh, need us to step in?" he asks.

Luffy waves his hand, "Nah, just stay in bed; Nami and I can handle it." he says.

"Nami's out there?!" Sanji demands making me groan in annoyance. Dammit Luffy, you just _had_ to push the 'Nami' button…

"C'mon, where are the coats? I need a coat!" Luffy whines.

"Don't ignore me you moron, what's happening out there?! Has something happened to Nami?!" Sanji snaps.

I roll my eyes and point to the coatrack. "Pikachu." Luffy looks at me and follows my paw. I remember seeing both Luffy and Sanji's coats on there when she gave me back Luffy's hat.

Luffy spots it and grabs it, throwing it on. "Thanks Pika-chan!" he says, running out the door.

"You better keep Nami safe, you hear me?!" Sanji yells after him.

"I will, I will!" Luffy responds before stretching his arm out and closing the door behind him.

Sanji sighs as he lies back down, "He better follow through on that…"

I give him a slight smile, "Pika pikachu." _'Focus on getting better first, stupid.'_

After a few moments Sanji goes back to sleep and I place the ice pack back onto his head. The sooner we get that fever down, the better. As I sit next to him and watch him sleep, I can't help but wonder what's going on outside. Who exactly are we up against here?

Just then to punctuate my thoughts, a loud explosion rings out from above us. Thankfully, Sanji doesn't wake up; but what the heck is going on out there?! I sneak out of the door and peek out a window where I see Nami, Doctorine, and Chopper all standing by the main doors, staring down four distinct figures.

One of them is really round wearing fur and steel and super wide and tall. He really reminds of Boo Jack from Clockwork Island only...with cannons for hands. And one of them is smoking; ah, so that's where that explosion came from.

Another is tall, wearing a cloak and has pink hair and a deep scowl on his face. The third is a guy with a big afro and the last one seems to be wearing some weird blue outfit wielding a bow and arrow. They may look silly, but I know better than to underestimate them; one of these guys was Wapol, so who knows what could happen.

I then realize that Luffy isn't among them and everyone seems to be looking up at the top of the castle. Oh geez Luffy, what the heck are you doing up there? Don't do anything stupid, please.

They spend a lot of time talking and thanks to the glass I can't hear, but my eyes widen as the tall guy with pink hair steps up. Looks like they're doing the thing where the henchman takes over the fight while the boss just sits back and watches. That plan either fails miserably or makes the fight longer; either way, we're not leaving this castle anytime soon. I'm guessing the fatso is Wapol cause he's barking orders like there's no tomorrow; I really hate tyrants...

Pink Hair leaps into the fray and it doesn't take long to realize that he has Devil Fruit powers. Looks like he can shoot spores of some kind; that could really screw us over if we don't watch it. I hear some movement on the roof of the castle and Luffy and Spore Guy (that's a better name for him) reappear on the ground.

I watch in anticipation as Spore Guy proves to be really fast. He's matching all of Luffy's moves at lightning speed! He also shoots poisonous projectiles but thanks to Luffy's rubber body, he doesn't get poisoned. I guess it has to enter your body in order to work, so as long as Luffy doesn't get any cuts or breathe anything bad in, he should be fine.

Nami's standing by, staff at the ready to jump in anytime, but I doubt she can hold up against this guy. Luffy's rubber body gives him the best chance of standing up to this guy and not getting poisoned. I can see why Wapol brought this guy along, he's definitely a tough fighter.

Speaking of Wapol, I'm surprised he hasn't stepped in to fight Chopper or Nami-

My eyes widen as I look to see the spot they occupied completely empty; where's Wapol and the two henchmen?! I strain my eyesight, looking around as much as I can, but there's no sign of them! They couldn't have fallen off the mountain during the fight so where else could they have… My heart just about skips a beat as I realize that the area around the main door is completely unguarded.

My fear grows as I hear a familiar door open followed by soft footsteps. "Pika-chan? Where did you go?" Sanji is out of his room, recovering from a fever, and three creepers, one with a Devil Fruit power, are now inside the castle.

I bolt from the window and down the hallway; Sanji, you better not do anything stupid! I run down the hallway and I hear Sanji's voice again.

"What the...who the hell are they?"

"Who is that?" I hear Wapol say.

"Most likely another Straw Hat, sir." I hear one of the henchmen say.

No! I immediately pick up speed and Sanji eventually comes into view. He's put on his shoes and jacket to protect himself from the snow and has a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. My paws start to throb a bit as I pick up speed and I hear Wapol once more.

"Kill him!"

Out of the corner of my eye I see the blue henchman raise his bow and arrow and fire. Sanji silently curses and steps out of the way, letting the arrow embed itself in the wall. However, the afro henchman takes out a black ball of something and lobs it towards Sanji. It's too fast to dodge! I will myself to go faster and leap into the air. I flick my tail and swat it away from Sanji before landing safely beside him.

Sanji grins, "There you are."

"Pika!" I chirp with a smile before frowning. I point to the still open bedroom door. "Pika pikachu?" _'Why aren't you in bed?'_

Sanji gets what I'm saying and frowns, "I feel fine."

"Pika pika!" I say, pointing a bit more urgently.

"What, do you expect me to just lie there when we have to get Vivi back to Alabasta?" Sanji demands. "My fever's gone down enough."

"Pika pi!" _'Not with you up and moving around in the cold!'_

It's obvious Sanji didn't understand me, but he still puts on an annoyed expression, "Geez, nothing makes you happy, does it?"

I roll my eyes and groan. _'Excuse me for being worried about your health, jerk.'_

"Don't just stand there, take them out! Now!" Wapol's voice draws us back to reality and Sanji ducks just in time to avoid another arrow.

"Alright, that's it!" Sanji growls. I jump onto Sanji's shoulder and he jumps from the railing to the ground floor, careful not to slip on the snowy ground. I jump off his shoulder and get into an offensive stance as Sanji straightens up, letting the blanket drop to the ground, "Looking for a fight? We'll give it to you." Sanji says.

"Pikachu!"

Wapol laughs, "A man and a mouse, defeat me? That's a riot!" he says. "Show no mercy boys!"

Afro and Blue Guy step up. "Don't worry sir, we'll get them out of your hair; and speaking of…" Before I know it, Afro lobs another black ball of hair towards us. Sanji grits his teeth and raises his leg to kick it and successfully hits it away… or at least, I think he did.

"Pika…?" I look to see the ball still sticking to his leg and making no move to fall off.

"What the…?!" Sanji's eyes widen and he shakes his leg, but the ball stays glued to his leg. "Get this thing off me!" What's going on? When I hit one of those things away it was like hitting a ball of cotton, it didn't stick to me like this! I check my tail to make sure and sure enough, the ball I hit away isn't anywhere on me.

Meanwhile, Sanji continues trying to get the ball off, "What the hell's making it stick to me?! Static electricity?!" he exclaims.

"Exactamundo!" Afro says with a grin. He then takes out two bits of hair from his afro, gives them a few squeezes before they expand and split into two more hairballs, making four in total. "How about two for your little pipsqueak?" My eyes widen; oh no, that ain't good! "Marimo Static Cling!" Afro yells, and hurls the hairballs towards me and Sanji.

Sanji cries out in disgust as two others latch to his shoulder and arm. I squeak and squeeze my eyes shut as I feel the balls hit me and...bounce away? I open my eyes and look to see the two hairballs landing harmlessly on the snowy ground. What the heck? I know they hit me, so why aren't they sticking? Not that I'm complaining.

Everyone else looks just as confused as me; am I too small for them to fully stick...or could it have something to do with them using static electricity?

I decide to test my theory and go over to Sanji. I take my tail and slide it between Sanji's leg and the hairball and I feel my fur tingle. I can feel the electricity the hair is generating to Sanji's clothes and I feel my own electricity keeping the hair from latching onto me.

I guess electricity is running through my fur 24-7...good to know.

I flick the hairball away from Sanji followed by the other two and Afro jumps away to avoid them. Afro growls and pulls out more hairballs. "Alright, try and dodge these!" he yells, throwing four large hairballs towards Sanji and me. I give Sanji and smirk and leap into the air in front of him. With precise aim I smack all the hairballs away safely with my tail; I never thought I'd be so happy to have lightning as my essence!

Blue Guy raises his bow, "Try knocking this away!" he says and releases two arrows almost simultaneously; damn this guy is fast!

Sanji steps forward and with precise aim and timing, kicks the arrows away from me. "Looks like we have upper hand this time." Sanji says with a smirk. He nods to me and I step up.

I immediately unleash an electric attack, enveloping both Afro and Blue Guy. Blue Guy slumps a bit with a few burns, but Afro's whole head catches on fire! Guess there's a downside to having all that static electricity in human hair. Thanks Arceus for fur! I can barely hold back my laughter as Afro runs around in circles trying desperately to put out the fire with the snow surrounding us.

"You idiots! Pull yourselves together!" Wapol barks. But by doing so, he didn't see Sanji running up to him. He lands a good hard kick to the face and another to his armored stomach, pushing him back a few feet. Sanji turns to me, his foot still slightly raised. "Pika-chan!"

I run up and leap onto Sanji's foot. Focusing my gaze on Wapol, I let sparks fly from my cheeks as Sanji swings his leg the moment I land, not losing any momentum. I shoot towards Wapol like a bullet, electricity flying from my body and almost surrounding it. This sensation, the speed, the adrenaline, the power...feels very familiar.

White energy surrounds me along with a few thin bolts of lightning and my skull slams right into Wapol. I bounce off and land on the ground as Wapol's fat body goes flying into the wall. Saliva flies from Wapol's mouth as the air is knocked out of him and he stares tiredly ahead. I can't help but snicker as his henchmen run over to him; I think we actually got him stuck in the wall! It takes a good few seconds before Afro and Blue Guy get him unstuck, but to our surprise, Wapol manages to slowly get to his feet.

Sanji frowns. "Damn, we hit him dead on and he's still getting up!"

"Pika pi."

Wapol growls, "I'm getting sick of you interfering." He turns to Blue Guy "Tell me what I ate today after the cannons and gunpowder." he orders. ...Uh, what?

I watch as Blue Guy takes out a small notebook. My ears wilt; what the hell…? "You ate a full toasted cottage, sir." he answers.

"Geez, and I thought Luffy's appetite was ridiculous…" Sanji mutters, both of us sweatdropping.

"Pika…" _'No kidding…'_

"You see Straw Hats," Wapol says, fixing us with a hard glare. "Anything I eat becomes a part of my body thanks to the Munch Munch Fruit!" Sanji and I both frown and get ready; whatever he's up to, it's probably not anything good.

"Munch Munch Shock…" Sanji and I watch as Wapol grows and grows until he's pretty much become a house with a face. "The Wapol House!"

"A house?!" Sanji exclaims.

"Pika pika!" What kind of Devil Fruit magic is this?!

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to eat!" Wapol says, turning to his two henchmen. "Behold the Munch Munch Factory!" And with that, he leans down and chomps down on the henchmen.

Sanji and I watch in horror as he chews happily on the henchmen, their feet kicking and struggling for some semblance of freedom. "He...He's eating his own men!" Sanji exclaims.

"Pikachu!" I whine, stepping a bit closer to him out of fear. This guy could swallow me whole like an apple!

After many agonizing moments of chewing, the men disappear into his mouth and he swallows. Steam comes from the chimneys and Wapol waddles around for a few moments. "Now, come forth you miraculous union!" he yells.

"What kind of union?" Sanji wonders fearfully.

"Pika pi…" _'I have a bad feeling about this…'_

We watch as the door on Wapol's front opens. "Allow me to introduce myself…" A voice says, though it sounds more like two voices talking together. "I am the strongest warrior in Drum Kingdom!"

Sanji and I gape as what I can only describe as a fusion of the two men emerge from Wapol. The thing has two faces and four arms, everything else combined and fused together. I'm actually having trouble believing what I'm looking at; I'm just glad it's not as terrifying as I thought.

"Miraculous Union?" Sanji scoffs, "More like ridiculous…"

"Pika…" _'You can say that again…'_ Welp, looks like we're up and running for round two. But just as Sanji and I get into battle ready positions, there's a loud boom from outside. But it's not an explosions like Wapol's cannons from earlier, it's more like a loud 'poof!'.

But what really gets our attention, is Nami's scream that follows. "LUFFY!"

* * *

 **If you've watched Chopper Plus, I'm sure you know what that cloud means... And speaking of that movie, I was real annoyed that the other two henchmen got axed off in that movie, cause Chopper wasn't able to show off his Rumble moves, and I LOVE it when he does that! (That's my only REAL complaint with the movie tbh...)**

 **I** **guess we can add 'Thou shalt not attack Sanji or any Straw Hat whilst they are recovering' to the Ten Commandments of Pika-chan (I'll post the whole list once I actually have one!) XD**

 **Oh, and if you missed it. Wapol only made the CANNONS a part of his body here. He then changed back to normal when he entered the castle and then used the cottage for the Munch Munch Factory. And sorry if we're not seeing much of Mushul here. We might get more next or afterwards, but we'll see.**


	37. Let's Rumble

"LUFFY!"

Sanji and I whirl around to see a giant purple cloud of spores outside the castle. That's right! Luffy was fighting Spore Guy! And judging by Nami's scream that must mean...oh no…

Sanji notices the growing fear on my face before Wapol bursts out laughing. We turn back to him as he changes back to normal size from his cottage form (I cannot believe I just said that out loud…).

"Finally, Mushul finished off that pesky Straw Hat!" Wapol says gleefully. "Now nothing will stand in my way!" He turns to a giant door that was in the back of the area. "This is the castles arsenal and I'm the only one who has the key to it!" Wait, this castle has an arsenal? Oh crap… "Inside are some of the most fearsome weapons known to man; all I need to do is devour them and I'll become the most powerful being known to man! The two of you don't stand a chance!"

Sanji and I both tense to lunge towards him as he reaches for the key but… Wapol freezes as his hands grasp nothing. The key isn't there. It probably fell off when Sanji kicked him or when I rammed him. Well, it's definitely better off lost than in his hands; maybe we can find it later before he does.

But for now, what about Luffy and Nami? Sanji and I look behind us at the castle entrance again to see that the cloud has kind of dissipated, but there are still a lot of spores hanging in the air.

"Ha! Those guys are goners!" Two Face says with a grin while Wapol scours the ground for the key. "Not even Devil Fruit users can survive Mushul's poisonous spores!"

"Poison?" Sanji exclaims, finally fully understanding my fear. "Shit! Nami!"

Both Sanji and I turn and start to make our way towards the entrance and I hear Doctorine, "Chopper! Get to the lab and put something together!" she yells.

"Right!" Chopper responds. Oh yeah, I almost forgot that we have two doctors here with us! I just hope Luffy and Nami are okay!

I suddenly skid to a halt as I hear Sanji's footsteps slow down immensely. I turn just in time to see him sway on his feet. _'Sanji?'_ My eyes widen as Sanji collapses to the ground with a groan and I bolt back towards him. _'Sanji!'_

His face is red and his eyes are half-lidded...oh no, don't tell me! I place my paw on his forehead and feel him heating up greatly. His fever's back! "Dammit...not now…" Sanji mutters, trying to stand on all fours.

"Pika pi!" I whine, my worry escalating by the second as I mentally kick myself. Chopper had said for Sanji not to move around too much! The bacteria must be acting up again!

"Well, it looks like you were mostly talk after all!" Two Face sneers. Before I can react, a boot kicks me aside and four arms throw Sanji against the giant middle column. Sanji's eyes widen and he gasps for breath from the impact, and I squeak in terror. Even though the fever wasn't as bad, I didn't want to risk Sanji getting even more damaged from any kind of shock!

I hear four wooshing noises and I look up just in time to see four arrows pinning Sanji to the column by his jacket. Sanji tries to escape, but the fever stops him easily. I get to my feet, my heart in my throat as Two Face is holding two bows loaded with arrows and aiming right at Sanji. "Say goodbye!" he taunts, Sanji glaring at him through sickened eyes.

I zoom between them just as Two Face releases the two arrows and I make my tail iron. With a quick swipe, I chop both arrows in half just in time, the pieces harmlessly showering Sanji. I land and glare dagger at Two Face, standing protectively in front of Sanji. "Pika pika!" I growl. _'Touch my friend again and I'll make you pay!'_

Two Face chuckles, "Well, looks like the rodent has some fight left!" He loads his bows again and lights the tips of the arrows, "I could use some extra target practice!"

My eyes narrow, watching him carefully, and I charge up my electricity. He fires the arrows and I shoot my lightning, making them fall to the ground as pieces of black wood. I start running towards him and he shoots two more arrows. They aren't aiming for Sanji so I easily dodge them before leaping up and shooting him with electricity.

Two Face wobbles a bit but stands his ground, only slightly fazed by my attack. "You're fast." Two Face comments, putting his bows away. "But let's see if you have the power to back it up!"

I tense as Two Face pulls out four giant wooden mallets. I grit my teeth and sparks fly from my cheeks before shooting towards him. White energy surrounds me as I bolt towards him and he raises one of his mallets. I leap towards him to ram him, but the face of one of his mallets meets me. I fight against the mallet for a while until my speed runs out and the white energy disappears around me.

Seeing his opening, Two Face gives the mallet a hard swing and smacks me right into the column above Sanji like a baseball. I peel off the column and fall to the ground, barely able to land on my feet. I shake myself off but my body is aching from the sudden impact and my paws sting a bit from that landing. Guess Sanji's not the only one who shouldn't be fighting.

Sanji grits his teeth, "You bastard…" he growls. He tries to get up but his fever quickly stops him, making him slump against the pillar and hold his head. As worried as I am about his fever, I'm glad that it's keeping him out of the fight. If he doesn't move maybe the fever will be easier to bring down again. I move between Sanji and Two Face again and get ready for another round.

"Still coming back, eh?" Two Face asks. He grins and raises his mallets. "Let's see how long you can last!" Two Face runs towards me and I launch another lightning attack. It hits, but Two Face runs right through it, taking the damage in stride. Crap, this isn't good! They may be goofy looking, but they're lethal!

I make my tail iron and jump towards them. I swing my tail hitting the side of their top face, but a mallet swings and hits me right towards the column again. But this time, I'm ready. I quickly position myself to land on the column and leap off towards them, using the momentum they gave me. I make my tail iron and start to somersault over and over, like I did with with Pearly Guy on the Baratie and I hit my mark, right on Two Face's head.

However, Two Face just snickers as I push off his head with my tail. It...It didn't even faze him! I put all my strength into that hit!

"You think a pipsqueak like you can stop me?" Two Face taunts. Before I can react, a mallet hits me, sending me to the ground. I try to get up when another mallet hits my chin, sending me spinning into the air. "You're just a pathetic puny rodent!" I hear Two Face say before I feel two mallets slam into me, sending me back to the ground, leaving a large crater in the snow.

Darkness quickly begins to eat up my vision when I hear Sanji. "Pika-chan…!" His voice is still weak but getting a bit stronger.

I force the darkness away and look up to see Two Face aiming his bows at Sanji again. Oh no, not if I have anything to say about it! I leap out of the crater and zoom towards the arrows as they fire. My mind runs at a mile a minute as I approach them; they're too fast! I can't stop them!

I reach out with my paw and smack the head of one arrow, making it go way off course and move to do the same to the other. But this one isn't as friendly. It moves off course, but not before I feel a sharp sting on my side. I let out a cry as I land in the snow, Sanji still untouched by Two Face.

"Pika-chan, no!" I hear Sanji yell with more vigor. I guess his strength is coming back quick. I can feel warm liquid matting a small part of my fur. I open my eyes for a second to see an open wound dripping blood onto the white snow. The cut isn't too big and it's only dripping blood so that's good. I've definitely had worse than this, but it still hurts.

The bandages on my left paw are also cut, revealing my still healing paw. It's still red and has dried blood on it, and I wince as the cold bites my exposed skin. I close my eyes again as the new pain combines with my sore muscles and stinging paws; this fight is not going well for me. At least Sanji's still safe. My ears twitch slightly as I hear tiny footsteps that sound familiar.

I crack my eyes open and they suddenly fall on Chopper. The little reindeer's a few yards away from me, holding a tiny vial in his hoofs. That must be the antidote for Luffy. Chopper's watching me intently, while moving sneakily around the fight probably to get past without being seen. I quickly turn my gaze from him so I don't give him away and I get up, facing Two Face again. Dammit, he's going for Sanji again!

My tail becomes iron and I run towards them, ignoring my new injury. "Pika!" I yell and jump towards them.

Two Face turns to me, swinging a mallet at me which I quickly block with my tail but Two Face grins. "Too slow!"

I scream as two mallets sandwich me between them almost crushing me flat.

"Pika-chan!" I hear Sanji yell.

The moment the two mallets release me I feel another slam on my head. All I see is snow as a mallet practically shoves me into the ground and spots dot my vision. No way...I'm not letting this joker get the best of me! Chopper's eyes widen as I shakily get to me feet and place myself between Sanji and Two Face once again. I bare my fangs and growl, ignoring my aching muscles. "Pi...pikachu…" _'I told you...don't touch my friend…'_

Sparks fly from my cheeks once more and Two Face laughs hysterically. "Boy, you're the most persistent pest ever!" he says. I take a deep breath and lunge towards them again, ready to unleash another lightning attack, but a mallet slams into me before I can even fully charge up. "But this fight is over!" Two Face yells.

I slam onto the snowy ground and try again to get up, but the snow makes me slip back onto the ground. I'm reaching my limit...I can barely stand up now. But I can't give up! I have to protect Sanji! If I go down he'll be next! I manage to get onto all fours despite my whole body shaking and Two Face hovers over me, his shadow draping over me like a cape of doom. I stare at them in defiance and get up on two legs.

I slowly spread my arms wide and breathe heavily through my grit teeth, a final feeble defense to save my partner. I may be tiny compared to this guy...but I'm not backing down! "Pikachu…" _'Do your worst…'_

I watch as Two Face raises two of his mallets. "Time to die, rodent!" he yells and the mallets begin their descent.

"Pika-chan!" Sanji yells in horror. I close my eyes and brace myself for the blow...but it never comes.

I open my eyes and they widen to see a giant hulking furry thing in front of me, blocking the attack. It takes me a minute to place the pink hat and the antlers; no way...is that Chopper?! He knocks the fusion back a good few feet and glares at them, "You keep away from them!" he yells.

I watch as he slowly shrinks back down to normal size. Forget Wapol, _this_ is one bizarre Devil Fruit! "Pika?" I wince slightly from my injuries as I realize that the little bottle is nowhere in sight. What did he do with the antidote?

Chopper glances back at me, "Don't worry, just rest for now." he says. "I can take this two faced guy on, easy." He then shoots a glance behind me and I turn around to see Doctorine at the castle entrance, holding the tiny bottle. I let a weak grin grace my face; he must've thrown it to her at the last second. Smart move Chopper. At least Luffy and Nami will be alright.

Chopper steps towards Two Face, an angry glare on his face, "I'm taking you down; no one attacks my patients while they're recovering!"

Two-Face laughs, "Yeah, you and what army, ya little freak!" he taunts.

"Freak?" Sanji spits. "That's like the pot calling the kettle black." You can say that again.

My eyes widen as Sanji attempts to get up but Chopper shouts out to him. "No, stay down and don't move!" he orders. "If you keep moving around the bacteria could easily infect your body again and make your fever worse!" Chopper then looks at me, giving me a small smile, "Keep him safe, okay?" he says.

I stare at him for a moment and nod my head. I slowly limp back towards Sanji as he continues to sit against the column. I almost fall over once I reach him, but Sanji quickly catches me, pulling me close in a protective manner.

Chopper nods in satisfaction and faces Two-Face again, "Listen up!" he barks. "My name's Tony Tony Chopper, not freak! The World's Greatest Doctor named me, and I'll never forgive you for disrespecting him!" My ears perk up greatly at the harshness in his words; who knew the little guy had so much fire in him!

Two-Face laughs, "The only one who won't show forgiveness is me!" he retorts. "I'll stomp you flat!"

Chopper says nothing and reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a tiny golden sphere, not taking his eyes off his opponent. "This is all I need to beat you; in three minutes, _you'll_ be the one stomped flat!" he says.

"Three minutes?" Sanji asks.

"Pikachu…" I say, just as intrigued; how is that little marble gonna help him defeat this guy in three minutes?

Two-Face laughs, "You couldn't beat me in three years, let alone three minutes!" he says.

Chopper tosses the ball into the air and catches it in his mouth. "Rumble!" he says, clenching it between his teeth and chomping into it. Wait, is that thing some kind of medicine or candy?

Two-Face readies his two bows, loaded with one flaming arrow each. "You're no match for this!" he yells, firing the arrows at him.

Chopper runs towards them, "Walk Point: Leg Boost!" In the blink of an eye, Chopper grows slightly, becoming the four legged form I remember earlier and he easily jumps past the arrows with amazing speed.

"So you're a Reindeer Human, huh?" Two-Face asks.

"No! I'm a Human Reindeer!" Chopper retorts. "Heavy Point: Weight Boost!" His hooves disappear, replaced with human-like hands and feet not losing any speed.

Two-Face laughs, bringing out the four mallets again. "Please, I've seen all your forms; I know exactly how to take care of you!" He raises his hammers to strike but Chopper doesn't slow down.

"Jumping Point: Jump Boost!" His body changes again, becoming longer and less bulky and he springs high into the air, easily avoiding the attack.

"Geez, that guy can jump!" Sanji comments.

"Pika." I agree, watching with wide eyes. This guy has speed and agility that I don't think I can even match! Two-Face is caught off guard, but he gets ready to land another hit. "Arm Point: Fur Boost!" Chopper yells. With a poof, his fur completely surrounds him as a furry shield, blocking Two-Face's assault. Chopper bounces safely onto the snowy ground before allowing his head to pop out.

"How's this possible?!" Two-Face demands. "I thought Zoan-type users only had a three form transformation!"

Chopper glares at them, "After five years of researching I discovered a medicine that can allow me four additional transformations!" he answers. "Do the rest of the math yourself!" Whoa, seven forms?! That's incredible! Talk about 'more than meets the eye'!

Two-Face begins shaking with rage, "No...it's impossible, I don't believe it!" He charges towards Chopper again and the reindeer bounces towards him, keeping his shield up.

"Arm Point: Arm Boost!" Chopper bursts from his shield, fur flying everywhere. His head remains small but his arms become extremely muscular, easily allowing him to smash the mallets into pieces. "If you think that's impressive, you should see what my iron hooves can do against rocks!" Chopper bites out.

My eyes are probably about the size of the moon right now; that strength is unbelievable! He's getting all this from that tiny little Rumble thingy? He's so small...and yet he's completely incapacitating the equivalent of two trained warriors!

Two-Face grits his teeth, "Take this!" he takes out four iron axes, replacing his destroyed mallets. He slams the blades into the snow, making two large slices of snow waves rush towards him. One of the waves hits Chopper's arm, but it doesn't leave a scratch, allowing the rest of the wave to slice through the stone of the castle wall behind him.

"Damn, that reindeer can really take a hit." Sanji comments.

"Pikachu…" _'You can say that again…'_

"Damn…" Two-Face mutters before running towards Chopper, "Let's see you dodge this!" My heart leaps into my throat as Two-Face begins slicing at Chopper from every angle. I watch as he rapidly changes forms, flipping, spinning, and dodging the blades with grace and ease, making use of his every form.

"You're not fighting, you're just dodging! Pathetic!" Two-Face comments.

Chopper flips away from him, "Brain Point: Brain Boost!" He shrinks back to normal size and lands. "I wasn't just dodging," he says. "I was looking for your weak spot!" All our eyes widen as Chopper puts his front hooves together, making a diamond. "Scope!"

We wait in anxious silence as his eyes seem to cut right through Two-Face, looking over every inch of his body. Two-Face roars and runs towards him, "Weak spot, huh? I don't have one!" He raises his axes, but Chopper doesn't move. "Your little parlor tricks can't save you this time!"

I can't help but let out a frightened squeak as one of the axes drops towards Chopper, only to have him dodge at the last second. Two-Face looks into the air, expecting to see him, but he's nowhere in sight. Where did he go? I glance around until my ears twitch ever so slightly.

"Hoof Print…" My eyes go to the ground right underneath Two-Face. There's a blast of snow as Chopper jumps out, his arms muscular once more. "...Roseo!"

I wince as Chopper's hoof slams right into the jaw of the lower face with a loud crack, leaving a bright red hoof print behind. Two-Face's eyes go blank as he flies backwards and lands hard in the snow, his axes falling all around him.

Chopper shrinks back to Brain Point and pats the dust off his hat, "Three minutes." he says happily.

* * *

 **Chopper's Rumble scene is one of my FAV fight scenes! I apologize again for lack of Mushul in this chappie as well, I promise I'll give you more next chappie, okay? I swear on Pika-chan's creation. After all, we still need to take care of Wapol!**


	38. Invisible Scars

**Hey guy! Just wanted to let you know, after this chapter I'll most likely be taking a break for Christmas, so don't expect a new chapter next Friday.**

 **On that note, what better time to end the Drum arc than around Christmas time? Perfect! :D**

* * *

Chopper shrinks back to Brain Point and pats the dust off his hat, "Three minutes." he says happily.

A wide smile grows across my face; he actually did it! Chopper beat them!

"Whoa! Awesome!" We all turn to see Luffy running towards us. Wait...did he watch the whole fight? "You were amazing reindeer!"

He begins gushing about Chopper's fighting skills causing the little reindeer to blush. "Shut up!" He says with a bashful smile. Nami comes running in shortly after, her staff still in hand; thank Arceus she doesn't look any worse for wear.

"Nami!" Sanji cries. "Thank heavens you're alright, my love!"

Nami's eyes fall on us and they widen, "Sanji, Pika-chan, what happened?" she asks, kneeling down next to us. She places a hand on Sanji's forehead and grimaces, "It feels like your fever's coming back! Are you okay?"

Hearts come to Sanji's eyes making me roll mine. "I'm great now that's I've seen you!" he exclaims. "But there are two things that would make me feel even better."

His head makes his way to Nami's chest and she instantly gets the message. "No way!" she squawks, shoving him so that he falls on his side off the pillar. Her eyes then fall on me as I'm finally released from Sanji's grasp. "How about you Pika-chan; are you okay?" she asks.

I give her a smile and a thumbs up with my unbandaged paw, making the bandages fall off even more. "Pika pika!" _'I'll survive.'_

"Oh no, your bandages!" Chopper squeals in horror, rushing over to me. He takes the unbandaged one and looks it over for a few moments. "We need to change these as soon as possible!" he then turns to Sanji. "And you need to get back to bed! What were you thinking getting up with a fever?" he scolds him.

Luffy laughs at the sight before glancing around, "Hey, where'd that fatso go?" he says.

The answer is given to us right away, "This isn't over!" We look to see Wapol running up the stairs. Guess he gave up on trying to find the key.

"Hey, get back here!" Luffy yells.

"Hold it Straw Hat!" We all turn to see Spore Guy (or was it Mushul?) enter the castle. He has a few bruises on his face and looks a bit roughed up, but he's definitely pissed. "I'm not finished with you yet!" I feel Sanji's grip around me tighten as Mushul walks towards us. "I don't know what that old hag gave you, but there's no way you should be moving after breathing in my poison!"

Chopper spreads his legs in an offensive position but Luffy steps forward, "I'm getting sick of you big mouth." Luffy growls. "Now I'm gonna kick your ass once and for all!" He glances at Chopper, "Don't worry, I got this guy; you take care of my friends." Chopper looks at him in astonishment before nodding and turning his attention back to me and Sanji.

We move behind the giant pillar to give them some fighting ground while Chopper gives me a look-over. I have some pretty nasty cuts and bruises forming, but I don't think anything permanent. At least I was only pummeled with wooden mallets. If Two Face had pulled those axes on me I would've really been in trouble!

I peek out as Mushul leaps towards Luffy in a rage, "I'm taking you down!"

"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy's fist stretches out and meets Mushul's face before he can even finish his sentence. Mushul recovers quickly and leaps towards Luffy at great speed but Luffy easily dodges it.

Mushul tries again but gets the same result and Luffy leaps into the air. "Take this!" Mushul fires multiple poison projectiles towards him.

"Gum Gum Whip!" Luffy yells, snapping his elongated arm towards the attack. Luffy's really not holding back, because the force created by his attack easily cancels out the poison. "Now Gum Gum Gattling!" Luffy yells and a barrage of fists rain down on Mushul.

"Amazing…" Chopper says in awe.

Mushul manages to get to his feet and leaps back into the air, this time ending up above Luffy, "Sting Drill!" he yells, his hand becoming a large drill. He thrusts the weapon towards Luffy but he easily moves out of the way in the air, landing a hard punch to Mushul's back. They both land and immediately go at it, their punches and kicks matching each other at top speed.

"Hey! Pika-chan!" My ears perk up as Luffy suddenly calls my name while still focusing on Mushul. "Lightning!" I grin and my cheeks spark. I send an electric attack with the last of my energy out and it envelops Luffy.

"What the-? Lightning?" Mushul exclaims, stopping short in that moment.

"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy immediately takes advantage and lands a hard lightning punch to his stomach. Mushul slides back, shaking from the force of the blow and the lightning now climbing his body. "Now Gum Gum…" He stretches his arms as far back as they will go. "Bazooka!" he yells.

Blood flies from Mushul's mouth as Luffy's palms smack right into him, sending him flying up and into an upper room near the top of the castle. "Pikachu!" I let out a small cheer, wincing a little through me injuries.

Luffy then snorts like an animal and takes off up the stairs. "Hey! I'm not finished with you!" he yells. I would worry, but he's going in the same direction as Wapol, so I think we're okay.

Doctorine approaches up from outside and giggles as we hear more commotion from upstairs. "It seems the nightmare has finally come to an end." she says solemnly.

Chopper has a wistful look in his eye as he stares up at the ceiling where the fighting is coming from. It isn't long before we hear Luffy cry out loudly before hearing screams of both Wapol and Mushul, punctuated by a loud crash.

The fight was finally over.

* * *

Chopper quickly brought Sanji and me back to the room and he and Doctorine began checking us over. Doctorine gave Sanji a few good slugs for getting out of bed and making his fever rage again, and even I got a scolding for putting myself in danger from Nami.

Chopper reapplied the bandages around my paws and added a few more along with a few medical patches around my cuts and bruises. Once I was patched up I could barely feel any pain at all! Chopper really is a pro at this! "Pikachu." I said, once he was done. _'Thanks a lot.'_

Chopper blushed slightly and looked down, "It was nothing…" he said shyly. I guess that sentence was simple enough for him to fully understand. "But don't think you're making me happy by saying that!" Chopper snapped, making me laugh slightly. This was is certainly a piece of work.

Sanji was given another dose of medicine and his fever quickly broke after that, but Doctorine pretty much threatened to chain him down if he ever thought about getting up again. Doctorine even gave Nami a quick lookover, but she only needed a few antibiotics, nothing more.

Thankfully her check up was short because we heard Luffy yell out followed by a crash so Doctorine, Nami and Chopper went to check it out. I limp over to the window and peek out seeing all our friends outside, along with the village Leader and a bunch of soldiers.

"What's going on?" I turn back to Sanji. I smile and begin my charades. I sneer and pretend to swing swords, then I make my nose super long, and then I press my ears together to imitate a ponytail. "They made it, huh?" Sanji says. "At least we took care of that big mouth; I wouldn't want Vivi walking into a fight like that."

I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to the window. All the soldiers are carrying weapons; I wonder if they were planning to join the fight with us?

"Hey, Pika-chan." Sanji speaks up again and I turn back to him. "Thanks for sticking up for me back there." he says. "But if you scare me like that again, I'll roast you."

I smile and let out a giggle; I've heard that one before. "Pika pikachu." _'You better get used to it, cause scaring you apparently comes with saving your ass.'_

Sanji chuckles, "Big words from a little mouse." he says and I freeze.

I stare at Sanji in amazement and he catches on. "Wait...did I just…?" I slowly nod, my eyes still wide. Sanji slowly sits up, frowning in confusion, "This happened before...on Little Garden." he says to himself. He looks at me, "Say something else." he says.

I think for a minute, "Pika pika pi." _'Luffy is a gluttonous moron.'_

Sanji continued staring at me before he shakes his head, "I got nothing."

I ears droop in confusion; what on earth is going on between us? How can we sometimes talk and other times not? Is it telepathy or actual language? We hear footsteps entering the castle and Sanji gets back under the covers, not wanting Doctorine to bite his head off again. I come away from the window and curl up next to his legs. Hopefully we can figure this out later.

A few moments later, Nami and Vivi reenter, followed by the soldiers, helping their leader inside. My eyes widened at all the bloody bandages around him; good Arceus, what had happened while we were gone? Doctorine sets him up in another bed and Vivi hurries over to us. "Sanji, I'm so glad you're okay!" she exclaims.

Sanji starts getting heart in his eyes again but I give him a whack with my tail; please don't ruin the moment.

Vivi then pets my head and Doctorine enters the room. "Say, Dalton." she says to the leader (so _that's_ his name!). "You know where the key to arsenal is, don't you?" Oh hey, that sounds familiar!

"The arsenal?" Dalton asks. "Why do you want to go in there?"

"That's none of your business." Doctorine responds.

"Wapol carried it on him at all times." Dalton says. Oh yeah, we still haven't found that key that Wapol dropped, have we? I glance at Nami to see that she has a knowing smile on her face. Oh dear, I know that look…

"Doctorine," Nami says stepping forward, "Would you mind waiving your fee for treating our crew, oh and also discharge Sanji and Pika-chan while you're at it?" she asks.

"Is that a joke?" Doctorine asks with a frown. "For my fee I'll be taking all the cargo on your ship and the blonde kid and his mouse will be staying here to recover for two more days!"

Vivi seems to start at these words, "Nami, she's right!" she says. "Sanji should really stay here and complete his treatment!"

"I appreciate the concern my dear." Sanji says, sitting up. "But I feel fine now, really." He then looks at me. "How about you, Pika-chan? You feel up to sailing again?"

I give him two thumbs up, "Pika pika!" _'Right as rain!'_

"That's not a very convincing reason." Vivi says with a frown when we hear jingling.

Nami's twirling the arsenal key on her finger; when did she pick that up? "This is what you need, right?" she asks slowly, unable to keep the smile off her face.

Doctorine scowls, "You've got some nerve trying to negotiate with me like this." she says, coming towards her. Nami giggles and Doctorine swipes the key, "Fine, you can keep your cargo but that's all I'll agree to!" She picks up her jacket and puts it on, heading to the door. "But as a doctor I can't let your friend leave for two days in good conscience."

Nami's eyes widen, "In that case we don't have a deal, give it back!" She moves towards Doctorine but the old lady turns around and points at her sharply, her finger just inches away from her nose.

"Listen here, girl!" Doctorine snaps. "I have to leave you alone and take care of a few things; if you look in the back you might find a coatrack with your blonde friends coat on it, and it's not like I'm sticking any guards on you." Uh...what the hell? "But don't even think about trying to escape, you hear me?" She then turns to the soldiers, "And you boys come with me; I've got some heavy lifting for you to do." And with that, she leaves followed by the men, leaving us alone.

We stare at the doorway. "Did she really just tell us to sneak out of here?" Nami asks in shock.

"I think so…" Vivi responds.

"That's what it sounded like to me…" Sanji says.

"Pika…"

* * *

Sure enough, we find Sanji's coat in the back on a coatrack just like Doctorine said. I peek out the doorway to see if the coast is clear and the four of us bid farewell to Dalton and sneak out. We exit the castle to see Luffy yelling out for Chopper; he's really keen on getting him to join.

"C'mon Luffy just give it up." Usopp says.

"He's not interested in becoming a pirate so just leave it." Zoro agrees.

"No! That's not true!" Luffy snaps. "I want the reindeer to be a pirate with us!"

"Just because you want something doesn't mean it's gonna happen!" Zoro yells. Finally; someone should've told him that long ago! Luffy ignores him and keeps calling out for him. My ears twitch as then I hear snow crunching and we all turn towards the trees to see Chopper standing there, his hat hiding his eyes.

"Reindeer Guy!" Luffy exclaims happily. "Hey, you're gonna sail on our ship and be a pirate with us, okay?" Uh Luffy, that's not how decisions work…

"I can't." Chopper bites out.

"What do you mean?" Luffy asks. "It's a lot of fun!"

"That's not a good argument!" Usopp blurts out.

"I can't go with you!" Chopper repeats. "Because I'm nothing like you!"

I freeze at his words. Wait...wait a damn second...is he saying that he can't come with us because...

Chopper glares at us angrily, "I'm not a human!" I flinch at his words. "I have antlers and hooves and even a blue nose!"

I clench my paws into fists.

"Maybe I do wanna be a pirate...but I can't ever be one of you!"

I lower my head and start to slowly move towards him.

"I'm a monster! I can't be a pirate and I can't be your friend!"

I slowly pick up the pace.

"I just wanted to thank you…"

I break into a full out run.

"Maybe one day you could come back and-"

Before he can finish, I jump and tackle Chopper onto the snow. He visibly flinches as I glare down at him on his chest, my teeth clenched tightly. "Pika...pika pi pikachu!" _'You jerk...if you can't be pirate because you're not human then what does that make me?!'_

Time seems to stop as silence envelops the mountain. Chopper stares at me as my eyes bare into him. Before I know it, everything begins to spill on one long rush

 _'You...you have no idea how lucky you are!'_ I exclaim. _'You can change forms, you can heal people...you can talk...'_ I squeeze my eyes shut and lower my head, _'I can't do anything like that! If anyone's not human, it's me!'_ I feel a few tears begin to leak out of my eyes. _'I mean...look at me! I'm just a tiny little mouse! I can't do anything at this size!'_ I cry. _'I can't sail, I can't navigate, I can't heal people...'_ I grind my teeth together. _'I can't even talk to my own crewmates!'_

I stand on two legs, still on top of Chopper, my head low and looking at my bandaged paws. _'I may be able to shoot lightning and fight…but I can't ever do it on my own! You beat that Two Face Guy all by yourself like it was nothing! I can't do anything on my own! I always need help because I'm so small!'_ My paws begin to shake, my eyes hidden from view. _'At the end of the day...I'm just a helper… I'm just...'_

I allow more tears to slip out and clench my paws tightly, swallowing my pride. _'I'm just a pet!'_

Chopper's staring at me in stunned silence and I can feel the rest of my crewmates' eyes on me. _'But you know what?'_ I slowly unclench my paws and lower them. _'Despite all that...I still call myself a pirate...because I'm willing to do whatever it takes to achieve my dream, even go against the government.'_ I say. _'I do whatever I can to help, no matter how small the task may be.'_

I look directly at Chopper and go back down on all fours, _'And you think that just having antlers and a blue nose will keep you from being a pirate?'_ I demand. _'...That's the biggest lie I've ever heard in my life!'_ I slowly smile at him through my tears. _'Quit lying to yourself...you're just as human as everyone else here.'_

Tears start to come to Chopper's eyes. I guess the broken mess he was able to pick up was enough to get the point across. He slowly sits up prompting me to jump off and I hold out one of my bandaged paws to him, as a gesture of friendship. "Pikachu." _'So let's go...friend.'_

Chopper bites his lip and looks at my paw. He gently takes it and slowly unwraps the bandages, revealing my healed yellow limb. He then grasps it properly, squeezing it softly, feeling my real paw for the first time, no longer blocked by a shield of bandages.

As he does this, I take note of how different they are. My four stubby fingers look like specks compared to his hooves. My yellow fur contrasts greatly from his brown fur, but it's just as soft if not softer. We're one hundred percent different...but we're both pirates at heart.

Chopper slowly smiles at me, tears still in his eyes. "Friends." he says softly with a small nod.

We look behind us as we hear Luffy giggle in delight. "ALRIGHT!" he yells, raising his arms high. "LET'S GO!"

Tears flow fully from Chopper's eyes and he gives us a firm nod, still grasping my paw. The rest of my crewmates give me looks of pride and I shudder slightly. I don't know why...but I feel like they understood every word, even if I didn't speak the same language.

But that has to be my imagination...right?

* * *

We all wait outside as Chopper had gone in to say goodbye to Doctorine. He's in there for a good while before he finally comes out, but it's something we never expected. He's in his Walk Point, a big sleigh attached to him and he's running for his life away from Doctorine! The old lady is chasing after him with a freaking Morning Star!

"Everyone, get on the sleigh! Hurry!" Chopper yells. Everyone quickly springs into actions and jumps onto the sleigh, but thanks to my paws, I still can't run at full speed! Chopper runs towards me, his nose down low and he flips me up onto his back. I hold onto his fur tightly as he jumps down and runs along the rope bridge connecting the mountain to the ground.

I gaze at Chopper and notice a few tears coming to his eyes. I look back to see Doctorine, watching us go from the edge of the cliff. I frown slightly; did she chase him away on purpose? The rope bridge soon ends and Chopper's running along the snowy ground.

"That was fun!" Luffy cheers from the sleigh, "Can we do it again?"

"You idiot! We can't go back!" Nami snaps. I turn back to Chopper whose eyes are shut tight. Leaving must really be hitting him hard.

All of a sudden, we hear multiple explosions coming from the mountain; was that cannonfire! Chopper skids to a halt and we all turn back to the mountain. "What the hell was that?" Zoro asks.

Chopper's eyes widen and he unhooks himself from the sleigh. He walks back towards the mountain, me still on his back until he shrinks back to Brain Point. A bright light suddenly comes from the castle and the entire top of the mountain is suddenly covered in a bright pink cloud of dust.

We all stare at the cloud as the snowflakes around us slowly turn a beautiful shade of pink, a sharp but gorgeous contrast to the white around us. It's a giant tree...and these are cherry blossoms. All of a sudden, it no longer feels cold.

"Doctor…" Chopper whimpers. "Doctorine…" Tears stream down his face as he lets out a loud wail. I move to stand beside him as we all watch the beautiful sight for what feels like forever.

Now that's what I call a true sendoff.

* * *

We can still see the cherry blossoms even after we set sail. Chopper's still staring at the sight, not saying a word. Nami and Sanji convinced the others to give him a some space, but I see Sanji give me a look and a smile that said 'Go do what you do best.'

I can't help but smile back and roll my eyes. Guess I really _am_ the ship's Therapist.

I wander over to Chopper who's sitting on the railing and leap up next to him. "Pika?" _'You okay?'_ I ask.

Chopper is silent for a moment. "I'm leaving them." he says. "Both Doctor and Doctorine." He frowns in determination. "My adventure is finally starting...on this ship." I give him a smile and nod.

"Hey." he says, catching my attention. "I don't...think you're a pet."

My eyes widen, "Pika?"

"All that stuff you said before…about you being nothing but a pet." Chopper says before looking at me. "I don't think that's true." He looks behind us at the other pirates. "You dragged your friend all the way up to the castle by yourself...and you even protected him from Wapol even though you were hurt." Images of the hike up the mountain and my fight with Wapol flash through my mind.

"I couldn't even save Doctor when he needed me…" I start at his words as tears start to fill his eyes. He blinks them away, swallows and looks at me, "So...I don't think you're a pet, you're way more than that. I just thought I should tell you…"

I stare at Chopper; he really thought that about me? Despite being called a pet for so long on journey...I never realized how much I needed to hear that until now. A smile slowly makes its way onto my face, "Pika!" I give him a hug, making him freeze. I nuzzle his fur and he slowly hugs me back. He really was the best doctor ever; he had cured my greatest sickness without any medicine at all!

We glance back towards the others who are starting to party. "Pikachu?" _'Wanna join?'_

"Uh...join? Is that what you said?" Chopper asks. I nod and he slowly smiles. "...Okay...let's go."

I smile and we both leap off the railing, heading into the fray. It isn't long before Chopper gets into the spirit and sticks chopsticks in his nose and starts dancing with Luffy and Usopp. We raise a toast to Chopper as we sail off to Alabasta.

I have a feeling Chopper is going to fit in just fine.

* * *

 **Me: HAPPY HOLIDAYS!**

 **Pika-chan: *waves happily* Pika Pikachu! _'Have a Merry Christmas!'_**


	39. Dark Places

**SURPRISE!**

 **A quick chapter as an early Christmas present to you guys! Yeah, it's short, but it'll effectively kick us into Alabasta!**

* * *

You know what's fun?

Starting off the day waking up and realizing that just about all your food is gone, and having to interrogate your bottomless pit of a captain to find out what happened.

"Don't lie to me Luffy," Sanji warns. "Tell me what you know right now."

Luffy's kneeling on the ground looking away. I'm on Luffy's shoulder, trying to get a good look at his eyes but he expertly keeps avoiding me. Sanji kneels in front of him and grasps his chin, "Look me in the eyes right now and tell me the truth."

He lets go of Luffy's face but Luffy still looks away, waving his hand. "No idea what you mean Sanji." he says casually.

I squint at him. _'Oh really?'_

"Then let me ask you this," Sanji says. "How did enough food for nine people, which Pika-chan and I carefully divided up so that it would last until we reached Alabasta, suddenly disappear in the middle of the night?"

My eyes narrow as I constantly switch between Luffy's shoulders trying to catch his eyes, but he's good at avoiding the inevitable. Finally, I look at Sanji and we silently agree. I casually place my paw on the corner of Luffy's mouth and take it away, flexing it as if something was on it.

Sanji stands up, "What's up Pika-chan?" he asks, feigning innocence. "Did something on Luffy's mouth get on your paw?"

And the dam finally bursts. "I forgot about the crumbs!" Luffy blurts out.

I jump off Luffy and glare at him as a vein pops on Sanji's head. "Damn it, I knew it was you!" He kicks Luffy right in the face, sending him skidding across the boat.

"Pika…" _'Jerk...'_ Well, now we're screwed. No matter how many times Sanji kicked him it wouldn't get the food back.

Sanji turns to look at Nami on the upper deck, who's keeping an eye on the pose. "Hey Nami, we need to do something." Sanji says. "We need a better way of keeping the food safe from Luffy. Can we please buy a refrigerator that locks?" he asks sweetly.

"Pika pikachu?" I ask with him. I'm so sick of getting food storage all ready only to have it ruined by stupid rubber idiots!

Luckily, Nami actually looks like she's considering it. "Maybe...since it could be a matter of life and death." she turns to glare at Usopp, Carue, and Chopper who are fishing. I sniff the air and- oh my freaking Arceus, are you kidding me?

My annoyance is reaching a critical point; Sanji's is about normal since he gave Luffy that kick. We walk towards the three fishers, "So, how's the fishing going?" he asks tighty.

"Pika pika?" I ask through a forced smile.

They all shudder and face us, "Well, it's uh…" Usopp trails off without giving an answer. Without a word I jump onto Chopper's hat, giving a friendly smile when they flinch. And right when their guard is down, I strike. A second later, all three of them are burned and twitching on the deck; serves them right.

"Pathetic…" Sanji grumbles. "Even with Pika-chan helping me, I can't take my eyes off anyone." I sigh irritably; today is not shaping up to be a good day. Well, if we end up starving, these guys only have themselves to blame. Maybe learning the hard way will knock some sense into them.

A few hours later, Sanji and I are in the kitchen brainstorming ideas for what we should do if worse comes to worse with the food situation. Luffy and Usopp are still fishing but they still haven't caught anything. Nami and Chopper are in the kitchen too, working on map and doctor stuff. I really hope no one took Sanji seriously when he said Chopper was back up food...

However, our thoughts are cut short when Vivi enters, saying that something's wrong. Oh great, what now?

We all head outside to see a big wall of steam coming our way. Nami explains that it's just a hotspot and that it's nothing to worry about. And when Nami gives the 'okay' you know it's safe. An underwater volcano is probably getting close to rising out of the ocean to make a new island.

"Guess we can't eat the steam then…" Luffy grumbles.

"Have you caught anything?" Sanji asks, walking over to them with me on his shoulder. I had really missed being up here when he was sick…

"We're so hungry!" Luffy whines making me roll me eyes. Well, who's fault is that, genius? "Can't you cook us something?"

Sanji and I sigh, "You're hopeless…but I guess we can go to storage and check." I nod and I leap off his shoulder as we enter the storage area. Good thing too, cause a second later we go through the wall of steam and I can hear the others coughing loudly. The smell of sulfur seeps in through the floorboards but it doesn't bug me too much.

"Pika-chan, you check the frozen storage." Sanji says as he heads towards the non-refrigerated boxes.

I nod and obey, heading over to the chillier section of storage. I check the boxes first, but sure enough, they're empty; not even a crumb is left. Guess Luffy ate the bones again...seriously, how does he do that?

Sighing softly, I head to the freezer and lift up the door, but only ice greets me. Wait...I wonder…

Ignoring the stinging cold, I venture inside the freezer, making sure the door stays open. I step through the ice cubes, feeling a bit of a chill on my paws where the ghosts of old injuries still lay and I make my way to the back of the freezer. It's pretty deep; whoever built this ship must've really thought ahead when it came to food storage.

The place is so cold from having so much ice in it for so long I start to shiver not long after entering. A whole bunch of ice is piled in the back; so far nothing seems out of the ordinary. I make my way over and start digging through the pile of ice. I dig for a while until my paw touches something smooth and it isn't the wood of the ship.

A smile grows on my face as I dig out a bunch of giant pieces of blue meat; hello again, Elephant Bluefin Tuna!

Thank Arceus, Luffy doesn't think with his head; he didn't even bother coming all the way back here! I dig a bit more around the back area and find a few more fishes that had slipped under the ice during Luffy's raid. They were nothing spectacular, but better than nothing. We could easily ration this stuff and maybe even try a few new recipes with all this Bluefin Tuna we have left.

I turn back towards the entrance to head back and tell Sanji when there's a small snap of a door shutting and the whole freezer is surrounded in darkness.

Oh crap…

The freezer suddenly feels ten times colder as my eyes struggle to adjust to the darkness. I slowly make my way through the ice towards the entrance, my tail touching the wall just in case. A piece of ice crunches under my paws and I suck in a breath before shaking my head. C'mon Pika-chan, there's nothing in here, it's a freezer for Arceus' sake!

I continue my slow trek, taking care not to slip on the ice until I reach out and touch what I assume is the door. I let out a slight sigh of relief and reach to grasp the bottom and pull.

...Nothing happens.

I pull again, but the door doesn't budge. What's going on?

Again. Nothing happens.

I pull as hard as I can but it won't open! What's wrong with the door?!

I pull again, pushing myself against the door even, but nothing works! Why won't the door open! I start pounding on the door, fear starting to claw at my throat. I slam against it as my pulse starts to quicken along with my breath. The darkness around me starts to blur as panic slowly begins to build.

Open up, you stupid door! Open up! Let me out! I don't like this! I don't want to be here! You can't leave me in here! Let me out! Please! Please don't leave me here!

 _Don't take me away!_ _I'm begging you!_

 _Please just let me out! **I WANT OUT!** _

All of a sudden, the door slides open and light assaults my vision. "Pika-chan?"

My panic immediately ebbs at the sound of Sanji's voice and I blindly bolt forwards into his arms. "Whoa, easy buddy." I shiver from both the cold and my initial fear.

Sanji looks down at me, "Hey, you okay?" he asks.

I let out a stiff nod, refusing to let go of his jacket. Sanji rightfully doesn't press me but I hear him mutter something under his breath, something about no closed dark spaces. I had no idea I even had this fear until now. Probably something my amnesia made me forget; freaking memory loss.

Sanji sits against the wall, still holding me silently, allowing me to warm up and get my bearings and I'm very grateful. A while later, I feel fine enough to let go of Sanji and sit on his lap without him holding me. "You good?" Sanji asks, giving me a pat.

"Pika." I say with a smile and a nod, leaning into his touch. _'Yeah, thanks.'_

Sanji smiles back and he makes to stand up, prompting me to leap onto his shoulder. I forgot about the stuff in the back of the freezer, but I can tell him about that later. I'm never going back in there unless I can somehow prop the door open.

All of a sudden, the boat starts to shake violently. "What the hell is that?" Sanji exclaims.

"Pika!" We run out of the storage room to see a giant cat fish(?) rise up behind us out of the ocean. Luffy and Zoro are standing at the ready, weapons drawn. Oh yeah! It's a fish! We can eat that!

Sanji and I hurry over, "If you don't catch that thing I'll kill you!" he yells.

"It's backing away!" Zoro exclaims as the cat fish starts to move back.

"Pika!" I leap onto the railing; my lightning can fry that thing easy!

"Yeah, get 'em Pika-chan!" Luffy cheers. I charge up and focus on the cat fish, ready to release when-

"Pika-chan! Stop!"

I feel someone pick me up right as I release, a scream following. I stop and open my eyes to see that the cat fish has swum away and I look behind me to see a charred Vivi still holding me. Vivi drops me as she topples to the ground and I run over to her.

"Pikachu!" I exclaim worriedly, looking her over.

"Wow, you're really strong, you know…?" she says in a shaky dazed voice. Well, she's talking and still conscious, that's a good sign. Thank Arceus I wasn't charging up for a very powerful attack!

"Vivi! Are you okay?" Nami exclaims.

"Vivi, my dear! Speak to me!" Sanji cries in alarm.

"Pika pi!" _'I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!'_

"Chopper! Where's Chopper!" Usopp yells.

"Right here, what- ahhh! Vivi! She's burned real bad! Someone get a doctor!"

"You're the doctor…"

"Oh yeah…"

* * *

Thankfully with some antibiotics and burn lotion, she was just fine in under an hour. I apologized again, but Vivi waved her hand, "I should've known better than to grab you when you were about to attack."

Apparently, she didn't want me attacking the cat fish because it's sacred in Alabasta. Well, that makes sense; kinda wish she told us that before. But on the bright side, that meant we were getting close to Alabasta; Nami even said we were entering the climate area around the islands! Oh, and also a bunch of Baroque Works ships are around us; that's a pretty big sign too.

We all agreed that it was too risky now to try and fight them. As Sanji said, "Nine against two hundred sucks."

After that, Zoro said it was probably a good time to start 'preparing'. While Sanji and I were in storage, Luffy and Usopp picked up a weird guy that turned out to be Mr. 2 from Baroque Works (though they didn't know until he left).

Big shock, the guy's a Devil Fruit User, whoop-de-doo. His power allows him to fully copy the faces and bodies of people he's touched; that can be pretty lethal in the wrong hands. So Zoro had an idea (a surprisingly good one for once), that we all put bandages on our arms. A simple but effective way to know who's who.

We all drew Xs on our left arms (that was Luffy's idea) and covered them with a bandage. Sanji helped put mine on and I helped with his once he was done. Even Carue got one on his left wing.

"So, what can I do to help?" Chopper asks, once his bandage is in place.

"Just do whatever you can do." Usopp answers. "And if you get overwhelmed, just run."

"Sounds like the pep talk he always gives himself…" Sanji mutters.

"Pika…" I agree my ears dropping ever so slightly. But even so, that's pretty solid advice for a newcomer. And hey, that first part is practically my motto; just do whatever you can.

That part seems to really motivate Chopper as well and the island finally comes into view.

"Now remember, no matter what happens on that island...these bandages are a sign of our friendship!" Luffy says.

We all put our bandaged arms in a circle and face the island. I have no idea what we're gonna expect here, but I'm ready!

* * *

 **Hmm...Pika-chan hates closed and dark spaces?** ***shrugs* Welp, better add it to the Commandments.**

 **5\. Thou shalt not trap Pika-chan in a dark enclosed space alone and unguarded; fear oriented reactions may follow X3**


	40. Alabasta

**Decided to go ahead and post this a day early so I can get a head start on the other chappies X3**

 **And BTW, Happy New Year!**

* * *

Landing was easier than I expected it to be. We managed to avoid engaging the Baroque Works and find a nice hidden spot to land. Plus, the city isn't too far away so we can stock up on much needed supplies. I sit on the railing while Luffy stares happily ahead at the sight before us.

"So this is an Alabasta city…" Usopp says.

"Is there food?" Luffy asks hopefully. I certainly hope so, and if there is, I hope we can get to it before you eat these poor people out of house and home!

My ears twitch and I spy Luffy's leg starting to lift up for him to climb off the ship. "Pika!" _'Oh no you don't!'_ I grab onto his vest and give it a tug, urging him to stay put.

"Listen up everyone, we need to remember to control ourselves here." Nami instructs, her serious face on. I turn to try and listen while still holding onto Luffy, still giving him tugs like a dog with a leash, but I probably should've kept my full attention on Luffy.

The next thing I know, I'm practically flying off the ship, clinging to Luffy's vest as he bolts towards the city at top speed. "FEED ME NOOOOOOOW!"

"PIKAAAAAAAA!" _'LUFFY NOOOOOOO!'_

My feet flail as I hang from Luffy like a flag flapping in the wind; it takes me a good while to pull myself back towards Luffy and hold onto his vest properly. By the time I've got my senses back together we're already too far away from the ship for me to just jump off. Well, I guess someone has to make sure this rubber ball of destruction doesn't do anything he regrets.

I had looked at the map of Alabasta with Nami a while back so I know how huge this country is. One wrong move and we could totally botch Vivi's mission to save her kingdom from Mr. Zero or Crocodile, or whoever the boss is.

Welp, better go with the flow I guess. I just hope we don't end up in the middle of nowhere…

* * *

"...And be sure to keep an eye out for Luffy and Pika-chan." Nami had just finished telling Sanji the list of supplies they needed to get in order to blend in and be well prepared.

"I hope Pika-chan and Luffy are alright…" Vivi said softly.

Zoro shrugged, "Like I said before, Luffy can take care of himself; especially with the rodent around to knock some sense into him."

"Pika-chan did learn from the best." Nami commented with pride.

"Are you sure Pika-chan will be okay?" Chopper asked.

"I'm positive." Sanji said. "Luffy won't let anything happen to the little guy, and Pika-chan isn't a target, like us."

"But Pika-chan's with Luffy." Vivi pointed out. "Won't that give Pika-chan away?"

Sanji shook his head, "The little guy's practically invisible when it comes to hiding; if worst comes to worst, Pika-chan will make it out like a bandit." Out of everyone, Sanji knew first hand how sneaky the mouse could be; after all, he still owed it for saving that Elephant Bluefin Tuna back at the Twin Capes.

He was a tad worried, leaving Pika-chan with Luffy of all people, but he didn't let it get to him. He wouldn't be able to concentrate on helping Vivi if he was constantly worried about his partner.

Pika-chan had grown pretty strong and was the bravest creature he knew; Pika-chan would be just fine.

* * *

The middle of nowhere.

Thanks a lot karma.

I sit on the sand with my arms crossed in frustration as Luffy stands stock still and looks around. He's making that stupid face, the one he makes when he knows he's screwed up but won't admit it. "It doesn't seem like there are any restaurants in this place…" he says. Oh really? Whatever gave you that idea? "Oh man, where the heck have I ended up?!"

Well at least he can comprehend when he's lost (unlike a certain swordsman). Now all I need to worry about is if we can find a way back. On the bright side, at least I didn't end up out here with Zoro; I can't believe I'm saying this, but I trust Luffy's sense of direction over Zoro's anyday.

Luffy sighs, "Oh well, might as well go back this way." I get up to follow when Luffy stops and turns to look in another direction. I follow his gaze and we see what looks like a little house with smoke coming out. I look at Luffy who's staring intently at the house. I can practically see the gears turning in his head.

I smartly leap back onto his shoulder just as he takes off like a bullet once again towards the house. Thank Arceus this guy is so easy to read (most of the time). We reach the house in a matter of minutes and Luffy stares at the front door. I look around and sniff the air; it doesn't smell like any food is cooking anywhere. "Pika?" I ask.

"I don't know," Luffy says. "This doesn't really look like a restaurant."

We look around and Luffy calls out but no one answers. Huh. Why would a fire be going when no one's here? Isn't that dangerous? Luffy looks to the side and sees a barrel with a spout attached to it. "Water!" he exclaims.

Water? Oh thank Arceus! I didn't realize how thirsty I was! Luffy rushes over and turns the handle, but no water comes out. "C'mon, is a little water too much to ask?" Luffy moans.

"Pika…" I agree, my ears drooping in disappointment.

We look around a little more when we spy a bunch of large burlap sack that are filled with something. We open them, but they're all full of weird green powder. "I wonder if this is food?" Luffy says.

I give the powder a sniff and grimace, shaking my head; it smells like grass clippings and seaweed. Luffy nods, "Yeah, it definitely doesn't look tasty." He gives it a taste anyway and cringes, "Ugh! Gross!" he exclaims. "Who would eat this, it's disgusting!" That probably means it's not meant to be eaten, genius!

Luffy then throws all the bags into the furnace and lights them on fire with some matches nearby. "Well, that was a waste of time." Luffy says. "C'mon Pika-chan, let's find some real food." I shrug and make to follow when the sky becomes dark and rumbling fills the air. Luffy and I turn back to the house, "What is that?" Luffy asks.

The area above the house is covered in rain clouds and the smoke coming from the house has turned green; the same color as that powder. I flinch as a raindrop suddenly hits my nose and a few more follow. What in the name of Suicune…?

A few moments later, the rain becomes a downpour, soaking us in a matter of seconds. I would be annoyed but after running through this heat, this feels awesome! "This is great!" Luffy exclaims, stretching his mouth out to catch the rainwater.

I face the sky with my mouth open and catch a bunch of raindrops when I spy the barrel with the spout. Water is now flowing through it and into the basin below it. "Pika!" I chirp and rush over to it. I jump into the basin and greedily drink from the spout when the door to the house bursts open.

"What's going on?! What's happening?!"

So someone was here after all? The guy pulls out a sword and starts interrogating Luffy about what happened to the green powder and wasn't too thrilled to hear that it had all been burned. He lashes out at Luffy but he easily dodges the clumsy sword swings. Luffy tries to apologize but the guy isn't too forgiving.

I watch the show as I sit in the still filling basin of water and the guy accidentally lets it slip that the green powder is illegal. That finally gives Luffy the incentive to fight back. One beat 'em up session later, the rain has finally stopped and Luffy and the criminal are sitting on the ground across from each other, the criminal sporting many bruises.

I turned off the spout from the barrel since the basin had filled to the brim a while ago which is about up to my neck if I sit down. I simply sit in the cool water, taking sips every now and then as I listen to the guy and Luffy talk.

The guy explains that the green powder is actually called Dance Powder or Rain Summoning Powder, which causes downpours when burned like the one earlier. That sounds like it could be pretty useful in a place like this; you could probably make a fortune off of it too. The guy tried to explain the science behind it but I have no interest in that; I mean all that you really need to know is that if you burn it, it makes rain; simple as that.

...Oh Arceus, I think Luffy's mindset is rubbing off on me.

I fully submerge myself under the water for a good few minutes, letting the water fully soak into my fur. I come back up for air just in time to hear Luffy say, "So...it's a Mystery Powder." That answer works for me.

I listen as the guy explains that Alabast is constantly battling drought; apparently rain is becoming more and more scarce and even a bunch of oasis have dried up. They would use the powder, but the World Government has made the powder illegal, a crime punishable by execution. I guess that makes Dance Powder a high priced object on the black market, considering it's also what started the whole rebellion here.

After the whole explanation is done, Luffy gets up, "Well, all I really care about is finding someplace to eat." he says.

"Wait! Just...keep this between us, okay?" The guy asks.

"Sure, whatever," Luffy says with a bored expression.

The guy presses his forehead to the ground. "Please don't tell! I'll give you anything!" Oh man, you should never say that to a pirate.

"Anything?" Luffy asks.

A few moments later, Luffy has a small boxed lunch in his hands. I take one last gulp of water from the basin and climb out as Luffy begins to walk away. I don't bother shaking the water out of my fur; I want this feeling to last for as long as possible!

"Remember not to tell anyone, okay?" The guy calls after us.

"Yeah, you got nothing to worry about." Luffy responds, waving his hand. "Besides I couldn't tell anyone if I wanted to." He gives the guy a grin, "After all, I'm a pirate!" I just hope now we can find our way back to civilization.

* * *

The heat...it's too much...Ho-Oh have mercy…

We've been walking for what feels like hours and there's nothing but sand wherever we look. "So hungry…" Luffy moans as he leans heavily on a stick he found. He ate that guy's lunch in under a minute so I'm not surprised he's starving again.

My paws feel pretty burned from the hot sand, but it's nothing compared to climbing Drum Mountain. I can feel the sun sapping away my energy with every move I make.

Luffy probably noticed how tired I looked because I eventually feel him pick me up and tuck me under his arm. "Where's the city?" he asks nothing. "Where's a restaurant? Can't a guy get some food in this crazy place?" My vision starts to blur as I lie limply under Luffy's arm; if I get heat stroke because of this, Chopper's gonna have a field day.

"Huh?" I hear Luffy and force myself to look at him. He's staring straight ahead at something. "Food!" he exclaims.

I look where he is and I squint through my heated vision. It looks like...can it be? I see buildings! That has to be a city! I perk up slightly as Luffy lifts to place me on his shoulder. I cling to his vest with the last of my strength and he takes off. "I'M COMING FOOD!"

I almost cry in relief when we're soon running through a crowded city, Luffy screaming for food all the way. I already feel cooler being out of the desert. "What's with this weirdo city, there's some weird not-food smell all over the place?" Luffy exclaims. I sniff the air and he's right. Something weird smells hear and it stings my nose. It almost reminds me of that stuff Vivi used to fight Zoro back on Whiskey Peak.

"Hey! I see one!" Luffy yells, practically drooling. "It's a restaurant!" My eyes widen as Luffy pulls his arms back and stretches them towards the restaurant, grabbing onto the doorway. Oh boy, fasten your seatbelts! "GUM GUM ROCKET!"

With a snap, Luffy and I shoot forwards into the restaurant. I think we hit someone on the way in but Luffy easily bounced back onto his feet. "Yeah! Food!" He cheered. "Now I can eat!" He zips over to a seat at the bar and demands for food.

I take the opportunity to climb off his shoulder and sit on the counter as the chef hesitantly outs out multiple plates of food. Luffy starts stuffing his face and I grab one of the chicken legs. Just one is big enough to fill me up. I chew on it slowly and try to ignore all the people staring at us. Also, according to the chef, we _did_ hit someone; sent them flying through multiple buildings in fact.

I finish my meat and start on some bread as the people suddenly clear out of the place and someone walks through the holes towards us. He's really muscular, has black hair, and is wearing a hat. He opens his mouth to say something when he's suddenly shoved to the ground by another guy that looks really familiar. And he knows Luffy?

I stop eating as I take in his appearance; white hair, muscular, cigars...wait a minute… My ears perk up in recognition; this guy was from Loguetown! We ran into him when we were trying to escape!

I look at Luffy and see sweat beginning to bead on his forehead; safe to say he recognizes him too. And if Luffy's nervous, then we're really screwed. "You're that smoky guy!" Luffy exclaims, spitting food all over him. "What are you doing in Alabasta?!"

Smoky Guy glares at us; I think it's time for us to go now. Luffy quickly stuffs the remaining food in his mouth and we both book it out of the restaurant. "Come back here!" Smoky yells, running after us. I manage to keep up next to Luffy as we run for our lives; if Luffy's not fighting back, then this guy must be really bad news!

A few moments later a girl with a sword starts running towards us from the front. Hey! That's the girl Zoro fought in Loguetown!

Luffy gives me a quick glance and I comprehend it just in time. I leap onto his shoulder as he leaps and climbs up a nearby building away from the girl and Smoky. I glance behind us just in time to see Smoky float up after us and continue pursuit, half his body made of white smoke. He has Devil Fruit powers! No wonder Luffy's running!

Luffy picks up the pace as Smoky sends a large smoky fist after us, "Why are you in this country Straw Hat?!" he demands. "What are you after?!"

"I just came here to beat up some guy named Crocodile!" Luffy answers.

"How are you and Crocodile connected?" Smoky demands. But before Luffy can answer, we suddenly dip down. Luffy had fallen between the buildings; thank Arceus some bags of merchandise broke our fall.

We quickly climb out and begin running in the opposite direction and Smoky quickly began after us again as a white wall of smoke. We run for a good while as more and more Marines join the chase when Luffy suddenly stops, making me hit his legs. I look where he is and spy a familiar group of people hiding near a broken wall. They're all wearing Alabastian clothes but there's no mistake! It's the other Straw Hats!

"Hey! Zoro!" Luffy exclaims loudly, causing the crew to flinch.

"Pika!" _'Sanji!'_ I can't help but call out my partner's name when I spot him. And Luffy already gave us away so where was the harm?

"So this is where you guys have been!" Luffy calls happily and we run towards them.

"No, you moron!" Zoro yells. "Take care of _them_ first!"

Oh yeah, good idea! I quickly skid to a halt and turn around, charging up my electricity. I don't have enough time to charge for an attack to take them all down so I'll go for the next best thing. I release a large wave of electricity and the Marines all fall to the ground, paralyzed by my lightning.

"Thanks Pika-chan!" Luffy calls and I quickly turn to catch up with him. "Don't just stand there, we gotta go!" Luffy yells as we run past the others, prompting them to follow. I glance behind us to see that the Marines are still paralyzed, but Smoky is still in hot pursuit.

"Not good!" Luffy exclaims, glancing behind us. "Notgoodnotgoodnotgoodnotgood!"

My eyes widen as Smoky throws a smoky fist towards us when a large wall of fire appears between us and the attack, completely obliterating the smoke. We all skid to a halt and Luffy looks at the fire in awe. The flames dissipate and slowly reveal a figure in the middle of it all.

"You again…" Smoky growls.

The figure grins, "Just give it up," he says. "You may have the power of smoke, but mine is fire; a fight between us would be pointless." The fire finally clears revealing the muscular guy from the restaurant. Oh good, another Devil Fruit user; at least this one is helping us.

My ears twitch as Luffy takes a step towards the man, "That you, Ace?" Wait, what?!

The man turns slightly towards Luffy's voice, "You haven't changed a bit, Luffy." Seriously?! These two know each other?!

"It is you!" Luffy exclaims in disbelief, "You eat a Devil Fruit or something?"

"Yeah! The Flame Flame Fruit!" Ace answers. He turns back towards Smoky as the Marines are starting to ward off my paralysis. "Now's probably not the time for chatting; you guys get out of here, I'll catch up!"

Luffy nods, "Right! Let's go!"

We spare Ace one last glance and start running once again. "Luffy, who is that guy back there?" Sanji asks as we run.

"Do you know him from somewhere?" Vivi asks.

"Yeah!" Luffy answers, grinning widely. "He's my big brother!"

...Today has officially become the craziest day I've had on the Grand Line.

* * *

 **To answer a Guest review, if the chapter didn't speak for itself, yes, there WILL be certain instances where I'll be including tiny scenes from the other Straw Hat's POV. I have a feeling they'll mostly happen when Pika-chan's not around but we'll see! X3**

 **I'm sure you all know what's coming next chapter (cue crying Ace fangirls)**


	41. Ace

Luffy has a brother… you have no idea how hard it is to wrap my head around that.

I mean, I can kinda see the resemblance now that I think about it, but how come Luffy's never mentioned him until now? Once we get to a crowded market, we stop as a loud blast is heard from far behind us. "What's going on?" Chopper asks.

We all look behind us to see a giant cone of smoke and fire, clashing in the air. "So that's the kind of power you get from eating a Flame Flame Fruit." Sanji muses.

"Is that guy really your brother Luffy?" Nami asks.

"Yep! His name's Ace!" Luffy answers.

"What's your brother doing on the Grand Line?" Zoro asks.

"Ace is a pirate like me!" Luffy responds. "He left home three years before I did to search for the One Piece!" Okay, that makes a little more sense, I guess… We all start running again and Luffy runs backwards, not taking his eyes off the action. "I never thought I'd run into my big brother all the way out here." Luffy says. Uh dude? Eyes on the road please!

"Which way!" I hear Usopp yell.

"Left!" Nami responds. Everyone begins to veer left, all except one. Guess who that is? I slow for a moment, glancing between my crew and Luffy; has no one noticed that he's not following?! Seriously guys! I growl and run after Luffy; dammit why am I always the one who has to babysit?!

I run behind Luffy as the idiot's still running backwards and watching the fire-smoke show his brother is putting on. Soon after we've run a good while in the wrong direction, the attacks stop and Luffy finally draws his attention back to running, "Alright, Pika-chan, let's go!"

I swing my tail out and trip him. "Pika pika!" _'Go where exactly?!'_ We're freaking lost _again_ and it's all his fault!

Luffy gets up and pouts at me, "Pika-chaaan, what was that for?" he whines.

"Pika pikachu." I say, gesturing the area around us. _'Notice anything missing?'_

Luffy looks around like he's just woken up from a daydream. "Huh? Where is everybody?" Well, he figured it out quicker than I thought he would; props to you for making progress, Captain. He plops himself on a barrel, crossing his legs and arms. "That's weird…" he said, tilting his head. "I could've sworn they were right here with us...now they're all gone." Aaaand the progress stops.

I smack my forehead. "Pika pika…" _'No shit, sherlock...'_

"Well I guess giving you a chance to escape was pointless." A voice says from above.

Luffy and I look up to see his brother up on the roof. "Heya Ace!" Luffy greets.

Ace jumps down and grins at Luffy. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?" he says.

"You could say that." Luffy says. He gets off the barrel and grasps Ace's hand. "How many years has it been?" Luffy asks.

Ace shrugs. "I don't know but you haven't changed much; you do look a bit taller though."

"Yeah, so do you." Luffy says as he pushes against his brother's arm with his hand. Are they arm wrestling? "Other than your Devil Fruit Powers, you haven't changed a bit!" Luffy starts to win over his brother. "Remember when you would sneak into the field, eat a hundred watermelons, spit the seeds out like a gattling gun, and then run away?"

My ears droop. _'Huh…?'_

"That wasn't me, that was you!" Ace grounds out.

"The farmers would chase you and you would scream like a girl!" Luffy continues.

"That was you too!" Ace responds. "I watched and laughed!" They're both starting to get red in the face now. This feels pretty extreme for a family reunion. They struggle with one another for a few more seconds until the barrel is crushed under their weight. I step forward to let myself get sprayed with fresh water; feels real nice in this heat!

"Guess we're still the same." Luffy says giving Ace a high five. "Just like old times."

I jump onto Luffy's shoulder and Ace finally notices me. "Who's this?" he asks, pointing at me.

Luffy glances at me as if he just remembered I was here, "Oh, this is Pika-chan, one of my crewmates." he says. "It's a Mystery Mouse!"

"Pikachu!" I say in greeting, raising a paw.

Ace steps forward. "Cute little thing." he says, scratching me under the chin. I smile and give a small squeal of approval. "Speaking of your crew, weren't they looking for you?" Ace asks, pulling a water canteen out of his pack.

"Yeah," Luffy says nonchalantly, "What are you doing in this country anyway?"

Ace snorts, "I take it you never got the message I left for you on Drum Island." Wait, really? He left a message for him on Drum? He waves his hand, "It doesn't matter, it was just to let you know that I would be in Alabasta; I'm here on some business." He sips some water. "I'm with the Whitebeard Pirates." he says before tossing the canteen to Luffy.

He's about to take a drink but I tap his face. "Pika pika." _'I want some.'_

Surprisingly, he understands and lets me have a few sips while Ace shows us the tattoo on his back, the mark of the Whitebeard pirates. He then offers for us to join the Whitebeard pirates but I think it's pretty obvious what the answer is gonna be.

"No thanks." Luffy says bluntly, and Ace laughs.

"That's too bad, cause Whitebeard is the greatest pirate I ever met. So I'm gonna help him be King of the Pirates; sorry Luffy."

Luffy shrugs, "That's fine; guess we'll just have to fight, cause I'm gonna be King of the Pirates." With that he starts gulping down the water.

"Hey! Don't drink all of it, you mooch!" Ace yells.

After a little more talking, the three of us head on our way, looking for the others. They most likely went back to the ship so we decide to make our way there. But unfortunately, Luffy forgot where we docked of course so I guess we just have to wander until they find us. I stay on Luffy's shoulder as we walk down the empty streets.

"So, what's your crew like?" Ace asks as we walk.

Luffy starts counting them off, "Well, there's a tough guy who carries three swords who wants to be the greatest swordsman, a navigator who likes maps, tangerines, and money, we have a cook who makes really tasty food; he and Pika-chan get along really well," he gives me a pat. "We also have a liar, oh, and we just got a doctor who happens to be a reindeer!"

"Sounds like you've got a motley crew there." Ace says.

"We also have a princess and her giant duck. Oh yeah, and Pika-chan can shoot lightning bolts! " Luffy continues. "Everyone in my crew is so interesting!" I can't help but feel sheepish; I don't think I'm that interesting…

"Sure sounds like it." Ace agrees. "And only a handful of people for a pirate crew, that's just like you!"

"I'm still looking for a musician though…" Luffy says thoughtfully. I give him a look; where would we ever find a musician crazy enough to join this crew?

"Stop right there, Fire Fist." We stop as multiple people with guns and weapons step out around us. How did I not feel their presence? I guess I was too focused on the conversation to notice. _'Well shit...'_

They take aim at us and recognize Luffy; guess they want us for the bounty. They charge at us and I stay put on Luffy as he and Ace dodge their swords left and right. "Hold him down!"

Hundreds of thugs rush towards us and Luffy looks at me. "Pika-chan!" I nod and grin and the thugs pile on top of us. Charging up, I let loose a giant electric attack, frying everyone right in our face, and Luffy stretches up, pulling us out of the burned men by hanging onto a clothesline, laughing. "Your lightning sure does tickle!"

I give a smile from on top of his straw hat as the men who can still stand open fire at us. But of course, Luffy simply reflects them. The perks of having a rubber body, right? Luffy drops from the clothesline and a big fat guy with a sword charges at us. I cling to the back of Luffy's vest as he narrowly dodges the weapon until Ace comes and stops it with his bare hand. Luffy takes a few steps back as Ace melts the sword.

"Gum Gum...Bazooka!" Luffy stretches his arms back and launches the man high into the sky. Whew! I think that one exited the atmosphere! The rest of the guys just stand there, stunned in awe and we continue walking. Eventually we pass by a port and Luffy stops, "Oh, here we are!" Luffy runs down and I leap onto the wall.

"You see your ship?" Ace asks. Luffy and I scan the water, but I can't see any sign of Merry. My ears twitch as the remaining thugs finally snapped out of their daze and continued after us.

"Oh, there it is!" I hear Luffy say. "Hey guys! We're here!" he calls. Luffy leaps over the wall and I follow; too cool for stairs Luffy? He continues waving at the ship before he picks me up and places me on his shoulder. "Hold on tight Pika-chan!" I have a bad feeling about this...

"Gum Gum…" I tighten my grip on Luffy's vest. This is gonna hurt… "Rocket!" Luffy and I fly over the water and we slam into Sanji and Chopper. I don't know how it happened but I ended up flipping over Sanji's head and landing in the back of his robe.

"Oops! Sorry, my bad!" Luffy laughs. I practically feel the fumes of anger coming off Sanji and Nami. Uh-oh, Luffy made Mom and Dad angry again...

Sanji gets up and shakes him by the front of the vest, "Yeah you better be, you sorry excuse for a captain!" he snaps.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've put us through?" Nami adds sharply.

"Sorry…" Luffy mutters. "Oh yeah, where's Ace?" He gets up and looks back towards land.

"You didn't just leave him, did you?" Usopp asks.

"Uhh, sorta…" Luffy admits sheepishly. "But don't worry, Ace is really strong."

"How strong?" Chopper asks as I climb properly onto Sanji's shoulder.

"Well, I've never been able to beat Ace in a fight ever since we were kids, and that was way back before he ate the Flame Flame Fruit." Luffy answers with a grin.

"You mean there's a flesh and blood person that you can't beat?" Nami asks incredulously.

"The big brother of a monster is an even bigger monster…" Usopp mutters.

Luffy shrugs, "Yeah, he used to beat me up all the time," he admits. "But I bet now I could kick his big butt!" Alright Luffy, you can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?

"I'd like to see you back that statement up." Zoro comments, voicing my thoughts.

"You're going to kick _who's_ butt?"

Luffy yelps and falls to the ground as Ace lands on the railing right behind him. "Oh hey, Ace!" Luffy greets. "This is my crew I was telling you about!"

Ace nods, "Nice to meet you, and thanks for taking care of my kid brother; I know he can be a handful."

"Oh no, not at all." Everyone responds with a bow.

Ace grins, "C'mon, this is Luffy we're talking about!" he says. "Isn't he a bit much to handle sometimes?"

"Not at all." Everyone responds again. Yeah, everyone here pretty much knew what they were getting into when they joined up; I wouldn't worry.

"You're good people." Ace says. I can tell that everyone is pretty much floored by how polar opposite Ace is compared to Luffy. Ace is caring and polite while Luffy is caring and blunt, in a much more painful way.

Suddenly my ears twitch and we all turn to the front of the ship where multiple ships are heading towards us. "Baroque Works!" Vivi exclaims. "Those are the Billions ships!"

"Those guys again?" Luffy asks, leaning towards them.

"Luffy, I'll take care of these guys." Ace says. Luffy nods and Ace hops off the railing into a little boat that I guess he used to get here in the first place. His feet light up in flames and the boat begins to move, Ace riding it like a surfboard. When he approaches the ships, Ace jumps, his boat submerging beneath the waves.

We watch as he uses his fire to easily propel himself over all the ships like a fireball before landing in his boat once again. "Fire Fist!" Ace's fist lights up and a gigantic wave of fire envelops all the ships, reducing all of them to piles of burnt wood.

Holy mother of Moltres, talk about fire power!

"He roasted them!" Usopp exclaims as we all stare in awe, except Luffy who's laughing and cheering all the way.

We pick up Ace and Sanji makes us all some drinks along with a few meat snacks for Luffy. Ace tells us that he's in Alabasta because he's looking for someone called Blackbeard, a pirate who used to be one of Ace's men until he committed mutiny. Now Ace is trying to hunt him down, to pay for the crime he committed.

As luck would have it, Ace last heard that Blackbeard was in Yuba, which is where we have to go too! Looks like Ace will get to travel with us for a while, and that's fine with me! We could use some extra fire power on our side, no pun intended.

We continue sailing and we all get prepared for the long trip. Sanji and I get the food ready, and Zoro gets some last minute training in. However, before we get to our destination, Vivi asks us to stop the ship. She says she has a special mission for Carue.

We do as she says and Vivi puts a piece of paper inside Carue's cloak. On it are all of the things Vivi and Igaram uncovered while they were undercover at Baroque Works. Carue has to get this to the palace and deliver it to her father, probably to warn him ahead of time in case things get nasty. "Can you do this for me Carue?" Carue gives a hearty squawk and a salute and Vivi smiles, "Be sure to conserve your water, okay?"

"Good luck!" Luffy says. "You can do it, duck!"

Vivi nods, "Go let my father know that there's hope for this kingdom at last." Carue lets out a loud squawk and runs off at top speed. Once Carue is safely out of sight, we set sail once again.

First to Erumalu, and then, to Yuba!

* * *

 ***holds up umbrella from all the Ace fangirl tears* Yeah this is a short one but the next one should be longer...or the one after that...we'll see ;)**


	42. Desert Struggles

***just read One Piece chapter 812 and 813* HOLY MOTHER OF SWEET BABY BUUDHA IN A MANGER ON THE MOON! IT'S REAL! HOLY SHIT IT'S ACTUALLY TRUE! BUT WHAT IS GOING ON?! FUCK! ODA I DON'T KNOW IF I WANT TO PUNCH YOU OR KISS YOU! I SERIOUSLY CANNOT WAIT UNTIL I CAN INCORPORATE PIKA-CHAN INTO THIS ARC! THE YEAR OF SANJI IS ON BITCHES! WOOOOO!**

 **Ahem...on with the story ^_^**

* * *

Docking at Erumalu definitely got off to a rocky start. Just before we dropped anchor, we got last minute preparations out of the way, but those preparations weren't appreciated by everyone…

"Ahhh! Nami! What happened to your dancer outfit?!" Sanji cried as Nami came down wearing a full body robe. Sanji was dismayed even further when he spotted Vivi wearing the same thing. "Vivi, you too!" he exclaims. "Why are you wearing that?!"

"Because any exposed skin will get sunburned." Vivi explains. "You have to cover up in the desert.

Okay, that makes sense; I'm sure wearing hot baggy clothes for a couple hours beats skin cancer any day. Unfortunately, Sanji still doesn't agree. "But those outfits...so sexy…"

I sigh as Sanji rolls on the ground like a burrito. "Pika pi…" _'It's times like this when I'm ashamed to be associated with you…'_

Vivi then approaches me, "Here Pika-chan." she kneels down and holds out a long white piece of cloth. She takes it and expertly wraps it around my head and upper body, covering my ears with a kind of turban-esque design. "You need protection from the sun as much as we do," she says, tieing it off comfortably. "This ought to protect you enough from the sun."

I touch the soft cloth, already feeling cooler with the cloth blocking the sun, and give her a big smile. "Pikachu!" _'Thanks Vivi!'_ Vivi smiles and gives me a pat. Thank Arceus, now I know I won't die from heat stroke!

After we drop anchor, I go ahead and leap onto the shore before anyone else, only to sense movement under the water. I flinch as a bunch of weird seal-turtle hybrids, leap onto the shore and block our path. "Those are Kung Fu Dugongs!" Vivi exclaims.

...Kung Fu Du-what now?

One that seems a bit bigger than the others comes right up to me; I shrink back a little as he's about twice my size. Chopper comes up to the railing and translates what he's saying, "If you want to come ashore you have to beat me; but I doubt that'll happen you coward!"

"Be careful, Pika-chan!" Vivi warns from the ship. "Kung Fu Dugongs are really strong!"

As if to prove her statement, the leader rushes forwards and gives me a hard punch to the face. I fall to the ground in a daze and get up only to see the Dugong rush forward again for another blow. I squeak and make my tail iron, _'Get away from me!'_

There's a loud clang as my tail collides with the Dugongs face, making him fly backwards and land on the ground with a huge bump on his head. He doesn't get up sooooo...does that mean I won?

"Ha! They're not so tough!" Luffy laughs.

"Beating them is bad too!" Vivi exclaims. What? How could that possibly be bad? My answer is given to me when the Dugong gets up and bows to me; what the heck? He then looks at me with large eyes, glittering with admiration.

"It's one of their rules." Vivi explains. "If they lose a Kung Fu match then they become the winner's pupil." I jump as the rest of the Dugongs approach me with the same admiring stare. They lift me up and bring me over to a large boulder, placing me on top. They then all gather around me, their tails wagging happily, waiting in anticipation.

"They think Pika-chan's their Master now." Vivi says. Well, I'm completely at a loss…

"Awesome!" Luffy cheers. "Show 'em some moves Pika-chan! Throw some punches!"

I sweatdrop at the proposition and gaze down at the Dugongs. They're practically falling over from excitement from what I'm going to do. I guess it can't hurt to try. I hesitantly throw a small punch and the Dugongs eagerly copy the gesture. I throw another punch and they do the same; okay, this is starting to get interesting.

I show them my tail and give it a hard swing. The Dugongs all leap into the air simultaneously and give the same swing, landing perfectly. I feel a twinge of pride as they land the move on the first try; these guys really are serious about learning under me. I decide to keep them distracted with a few more moves while the others disembark and get ready, which doesn't take long.

"Alright! Let's go to Yuba!" Luffy yells. I take that as my signal to wrap things up; I give the Dugongs a little salute and jump off the rock, making after my friends when I hear movement behind me.

I turn to see all the Dugongs following me. I quickly shake my head and point to the ocean, "Pika pi." _'Go home, guys.'_ I start to walk again but they still follow me, their faces set with determination. I grimace and call out to my friends. _'Guys! We may have a problem!'_

Luffy's whole face brightens, "Ooh! Are we taking them all with us?" he asks excitedly.

"Luffy, we can't!" Nami scolds.

"They're water creatures, they won't make it." Vivi agrees. The Dugongs probably understood because a few of them come up to me and begin to nuzzle and hug me, whimpering and whining all the while. I wince from having these big creatures squish me between them as Nami and Vivi's resolve seems to waver.

"Pika-chan, just tell them that they have to stay here." Sanji says.

"Pika!" _'I tried!'_ I respond.

"Pika-chan already tried that." Chopper says, translating when he lights up with an idea. "Wait! I know!"

A little while later, we're walking off, the Dugongs giving us a sendoff with multiple pieces of our food in their mouths. According to Chopper they would've followed me if we hadn't given them the food, "They kept saying 'Where you go, we'll follow Master!'" he said.

Well, at least they agreed to our terms. I really didn't want the responsibility of looking after all those little guys. We walk for a good while until we stumble across what looks like the remains of a town. "Is this Yuba?" Luffy asks.

"No, this is Erumalu, also known as The City of Green." Vivi answers, sadness coming to her voice.

As we walk through the ruined town, Vivi explains how the people here made use of what little rain they got and actually managed to make gardens, palm trees, and lots of other plant life grow, hence the name. However, rain hasn't fallen in Alabasta for over three years now; and with all the damage Baroque Works has been doing all this time, I can understand how a bunch of cities would suffer like this. Even though rain was scarce, it fell in Alabarna, the country's capital more than most; the King's Miracle, they called it. However, everything went downhill when the people discovered that the King was supposedly being delivered massive amounts of Dance Powder.

"Really? Dance Powder?" Nami asks.

"Oh, you've heard of it?" Luffy asks.

Nami nods, "Yeah, it was supposedly developed by a researcher in a country where it never rained; it basically gives you the ability to make rain right on the spot when it's burned."

My ears perk up; that sounds like… "Oh, I get it!" Luffy chirps. "I've seen it before; I tried eating some of it and it tasted pretty gross!"

"You ate Dance Powder?" Nami asks flatly.

"It's not even food, it's for making rain." Zoro adds with the same flat tone.

"Hey! I'm not lying!" Luffy protests. "Pika-chan was there! Tell 'em Pika-chan!"

Why do you always insist on dragging me into your drama Luffy? But I give a nod regardless, "Pika. Pika pi pikachu."

Everyone looks at Chopper who frowns. "Uh...I couldn't catch most of that." he answers sheepishly. "But I did hear the phrase 'It's true.'."

"Hold on." Usopp says, halting the conversation, "Wouldn't stuff like that be perfect for a desert country like this?"

"You would think so," Nami says. "As the name suggests, the people who developed it were happy enough to dance; but the catch was that their neighboring country had a drought."

Nami explains that Dance Powder artificially makes small clouds into rain clouds. Those clouds would've become rain clouds, but only after they had traveled for a while. So the stuff basically steals the rain that was supposed to be heading for another area.

No wonder the stuff is illegal! Nature tampering never ends well, does it? So this Dance Powder that was apparently being given to the King and was found all inside his castle is what's causing all this mess? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Baroque Works are the ones working behind the scenes of all this. Now cities like these are crumbling because the people have no choice but to abandon their homes to look for more water.

We all stop as a loud gust of wind rushes through the area. A low moaning sound is heard throughout the air and I cling a little tighter to my spot on Sanji's shoulder. "There's no danger." Ace reassures us. "It's just wind blowing and echoing off all the old buildings."

"It's like...the city is wailing over what's happened to it." Vivi says.

"Watch out!" Nami warns as a big wave of sand rushes towards us. I feel Sanji's hand press against my back, holding me on his shoulder as I crouch and close my eyes. I try my hardest to not breath in any sand as the scratchy substance whips around us; and is it just me, or is that wailing sounding more and more human?

The wind finally stops and I shake my head, getting the sand out of my fur. "What's up with that freaky wind?" Usopp mutters.

"Hey look!" Nami cries, pointing. "Someone's collapsed!"

I look up and sure enough, I can see a figure covered with a cape lying in the sand. Luffy makes towards it and we all follow...only to be greeted by the remains of some poor soul. Vivi kneels down and gently touches the skull, "What did my father and these people ever do?" she asks softly, desperation coming back to her voice. "It's hard enough to live in the desert, but these people led happy lives! And now Crocodile's destroying all of them!"

Sanji gently lifts me off his shoulder and places me on the ground as he, Luffy, and Usopp head over to what looks like an old tower. A few moments later, the structure comes tumbling down. Well, Luffy has to get his anger out somehow, I guess. The three head back while Ace and Vivi bury the skull properly, hoping to give it some kind of peace.

Once they're finished, I walk up and clasp my paws together in silent prayer, like I did for Nami's mother's grave way back when.

Once I'm done, Luffy plunges a twig into the sand above the skull, marking the grave. "Vivi, let's get moving." he says. "I'm itching to do this." And with that, we all continue our journey to Yuba. I jump back onto Sanji's shoulder and turn back as we leave the ruined city behind.

I frown slightly before facing back to the path ahead; I know I'm not the only one, but I hope we make this Crocodile guy pay.

* * *

I...officially...hate...the desert.

I swear, the sun is ten times hotter than when I was separated with Luffy. Even with my cloth cover shielding me from the sun I'm still burning up! Stupid fur. But I'm not the only one to suffer in that regard; poor Chopper can't even walk anymore!

Zoro has to drag him on a makeshift sled because his fur is too thick, making him heat up even more. Looking at him, I'm glad my fur is thin; plus, I have Sanji to ride on. I deflate with a sigh as the heat saps away my energy, but at least like this I won't have to concentrate on Luffy and Usopp's constant whining.

This is gonna be a long day…

* * *

Once night finally falls, we're greeted with the chilly night air. We get a fire going and Sanji starts preparing dinner while we both attempt to keep Luffy away from it before it's done. That was a mission in itself, trust me. When we all finish eating, we all divide into our tents.

Sanji and I end up in Nami's tent (don't ask me how _that_ ended up happening), Zoro, Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp take another, and Vivi and Ace take the last one. Guess the guests need to have as special treatment as we can give.

"Try anything and you're dead." Nami says to Sanji as he settle under our shared blankets.

"Of course my dear!" Sanji responds.

I roll my eyes and look at Nami, "Pika pika." _'I'm on it,'_ I say with a small salute. If anything awkward happens, I'll be on him like a Talonflame with its prey. Man, my slang is really taking off with the mystery words lately…and I still don't know what they mean!

Nami gives me a pat and I curl up in between the two of them. Thanks to the long walk, it doesn't take us very long to go to sleep.

* * *

The next morning we set off again, the blazing sun easily rousing us. We somehow managed to sleep through a sandstorm but that was the least of our worries, mostly thanks to Vivi forgetting to warn us about the dangers of the desert.

First, Luffy got all our stuff stolen by some weirdo birds, then he almost got eaten by two giant desert lizards (we were able to befriend a camel named Eyelash thanks to that, so that was a plus), then we ran into desert pirates, and _then_ we decided to test out these guys who were pretending to be rebels to get free hospitality out of a small village. Turns out they were pure hearted people, so we left them alone.

Plus, during that whole skirmish, Vivi told Nami and I about the leader of the rebels. His name is Kohza and he was apparently a really close childhood friend of Vivi's. He was one of the first kids who didn't treat her like a princess, just a normal kid. They played together all the time until Kohza and his father left to establish the city of Yuba. According to Vivi, this Kohza has some real fighting spirit; he'll never give up on a fight, even if he knows it will end with his death.

This sounds like a pretty hard-core guy; no wonder he's leading the rebels. But then again, this guy knew Vivi and in turn knew her father; does Kohza really think that the king wants this rebellion? Well I guess it's a good thing that he and Vivi are old friends; that may help our case.

But the weird thing was, while she was telling this story, my head started to hurt. I began to get flashes again, but this time they were different. All I could see was a big grassy field in the sunlight, surrounded by trees. It feels like I'm running through the field, but not because of fear or anger. It feels...happy. But that's as far as I get before reality comes a-knocking once again.

I can't help but softly growl that my mind still refuses to recall my memories; how many more triggers am I gonna need in order to get just one inkling of my past?

These thoughts along with the unbearable heat slowly but surely put me in a bad mood. I did my best not to lash out at anyone; the desert is the last place I want to cause a fuss in. We have enough to deal with with the constant heat and shortage of water.

But my silence almost ends when we stop to eat and two brats come and try to steal our food. Luffy ran off somewhere but Ace managed to actually find the boys. They looked pretty dirty so I guess I can't blame them; they're probably just poor kids who want some decent food for once.

They explain that they're looking for a man, a bounty hunter named Scorpion. Turns out this is the guy who Ace has been looking for because he was the last person to see Blackbeard and apparently defeat him. Really? This regular looking guy defeated Blackbeard, one of the Whitebeard Pirates and Ace's best? There's no way…

Just then, Scorpion rides up on some giant bird with Luffy riding right behind him and he challenges Ace to a fight. The fight goes about as well as to be expected, but everything seems to freeze when one of the boys yells out, "Stop! You can't beat him father!"

I bristle as the boys run over to Scorpion and beg him not to fight Ace and to come back home with them. I unconsciously flinch as I see the little family together in the sand; the figures in my head come back again, but none of them show any clarity. Scorpion throws his bazooka away and hugs his boys but that causes the thing to go off and blow up a nearby rock formation. Ace manages to blow the falling debris away from Scorpion and his boys and he and Luffy approach them.

The boys seem fine but Scorpion seem unconscious; he had tried to shield the boys when the debris was falling. "Hey, you alive Scorpion?" he asks.

"Of course I'm alive." Scorpion says, slowly getting up. "You think I'd just die and leave my boys behind?" I tense and clench my paws into fists as Scorpion's two boys tackle him in a hug. I slowly scowl as I get the same creeping feeling of envy from long ago, like when I saw Akisu hug his mom. "I love you...you boys are my life." Scorpion says.

That's the last straw. Letting a soft whimper escape, I turn tail and run. "Hey! Pika-chan!" I hear Sanji call after me.

I close my eyes, trying desperately to keep them dry as I run aimlessly. I can't stand watching this anymore! I run for a good while until I find a large rock that's different from the others. It's tilted ever so slightly, making a tall shadow reach across the sand. I stop there and wipe my eyes, swallowing the lump coming to my throat. I lie down on the cool sand, staring at nothing in particular.

Why? Why does the world love to torment me like this? Why am I always taunted by the shadows of my past in this way? I unconsciously begin to drag my paw through the sand as the figures appear in my head once again. They're all the same; big and small, two tall figures bearing an aura, the shape I associated with Dragonite so long ago, the flash from when we passed through that mirage, all my mystery words swirling around them all the while...so many questions still with no answers, even after all this time!

Wasn't that the whole reason I was here? I made a pledge that I would find out where I was from and who I really was and I still haven't found _anything_! All I've figured out is how much I want my memory back! I _want_ to know where my home is! I _want_ to know who my friends and family are! Why can't I just remember?! Why am I the one stuck in this rut?! Why won't my memory just come back?!

I let out a choked sob as I feel myself collapse under the invisible weight I've been carrying all this time. Having no memory is almost impossible to describe. It's annoying and inconvenient, but it's also downright terrifying. You have no idea who you are or who you used to be. You have no idea what you've done in your life, whether good or bad. And you have no idea what's left of your old life, if you even want to go back to it.

For all I know I could be a member of a criminal organization; my real friends and family could be captured, hurt, or worse; my home could be completely non-existent or even not want anything to do with me. But worst of all...I'll probably never be able to undo the damage my amnesia has caused. I could have been gone for years and my loved ones could have moved on, or be in a constant state of worry. Plus, I'm a pirate; what would they say to that?

I look down at the sand, realizing that I had drawn a messy sketch of my face along with two bigger versions. Is that what my mom and dad look like? I have no idea...and I probably never will. I imagine my parents huddled together, trying desperately to dry their tears as they gaze out at the ocean, wondering where I am and if I'm even alive.

I wince as a short burst of wind blows over me, covering my drawing in sand, leaving the two faces of my parents completely obscured and mine distorted and incomplete. A part of me wants to scream in rage while another just wants to throw myself into a dark pit and cry. I instead aggressively wipe out what's left of my drawing, hot tears coming to my eyes and my tail becomes iron.

I turn around, jump up, and slam it into the rock I was resting under with a loud yell. The rock slowly cracks before shattering into pieces, exposing me to the sunlight once again. My tail goes back to normal as I take deep breaths, trying to calm myself. I wipe my eyes and swallow the lump in my throat when a shadow looms over me.

My instincts are quiet and the shadow is a recognizable shape, so I slightly turn to meet them. Sanji is standing behind me, glancing at the shattered rock and looking at me with empathy and understanding. I scowl at his expression; how could he possibly understand what I'm going through right now? Hell, he can't even understand when I'm telling him 'Hello'!

I then see another figure and I see Chopper standing a few feet behind Sanji. Sanji kneels down in front of me and Chopper walks up beside him, probably to assist in translation if need be.

I freeze as Sanji pets my head lightly, "It's not like you to give up so easily." he says, making me look up at him in confusion. "You didn't give up on me, so don't give up on yourself; you'll get your memories back."

I shake my head, making him remove his hand. "Pika? Pika pika pi! Pikachu pika pi! Pi pikachu?!" _'How? It's been months and I still don't remember! I'm sick and tired of being 'Mystery Mouse'! I want to be a 'Normal Mouse' with 'normal' memories! Is that so much to ask?!'_

I want to kick myself for using Luffy's stupid term for me, but it's already out there, too late to take it back. "I think it's asking 'How can I not give up on myself?'" Chopper's voice rings out, reminding me that they were still there in front of me. Not the best translation, but enough for me. I'm not in the mood to complain; after all, mistranslation is probably just gonna always be a norm for me, even if I get my memory back.

Sanji sighs through his nose, "I don't think I can really answer that." he says. "It all depends on how badly you want your memories back." I look up at him when he says. "So, how about it?" he asks. "Do you really want to remember?"

I pause for a moment before nodding; I want to know. Whether my past is good or bad, I want to fill this giant gaping hole in my mind.

"Amnesia never lasts forever." Chopper speaks up. "The amount of time it takes to recover lost memories varies from person to person, but they will come back, whether by trigger or over time." Chopper gives me a small smile, "I wouldn't worry too much; you'll get your memories back at some point, I'm sure of it."

I can't help but smile back; that actually made me feel a lot better. Now that I think about it, maybe I could talk to Chopper more later about my amnesia; after all, what better person to talk about a head injury with than with a doctor?

Sanji smiles slightly and stands up straight, "C'mon, let's head back." Chopper and I nod and we head back to the others.

I just really hope Chopper is right about my amnesia… I don't know how much longer I can take not knowing...

* * *

 **I imagine that having amnesia is NOT GOOD for anyone's mental health (other than the fact that a head injury usually causes it). Depending on how long it lasts, I'm sure it wouldn't be long before someone totally broke down like Pika-chan.**

 **God I forgot how much FILLER is in this arc! I think you could tell by the way I summarized it that I was getting REALLY bored. Sorry One Piece, but I'm here for plot, not filler.**

 **Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Why? Let's just say Pika-chan is in for a surprise. You'll see X3**


	43. Change of Plan

**The time has finally come! I've been waiting for this moment for a while now! You'll see at the end ;)**

* * *

You have no idea how relieved I was when we finally made it Yuba!

The previous day had been hectic enough with Scorpion. Ace had left a while back, heading out to look for another lead on Blackbeard that Scorpion had heard about. He gave Luffy some weird piece of blank paper for...no real reason really. He just told him to hold onto it, so of course that was enough to get Luffy to hold tight to it.

"Ace said it was important so I have to hold onto it." Luffy had said. Honestly, that's a good enough reason for me, despite what everyone else says. If family says something's important than it has to be important! Nami sewed it into his hat ribbon so he wouldn't lose it and we were on our way.

The following day, Luffy, Zoro, and Chopper got separated for most of the day but they found their way back to us by sunset. And it was a few hours after that that Vivi said those beautiful words. "We're close now; Yuba's just past those rocks up ahead."

I jump in the air for joy along with Luffy and Chopper; we finally made it! At long last! "Yuba or bust!" Luffy yells, jumping ahead of the group. I run up ahead as well, feeling renewed energy from both the news and the cooling desert air.

It isn't long before night finally falls, but a strong wind starts to blow, blowing up thin waves of sand and causing everyone to cover their noses and mouths for protection. Thanks to the way Vivi tied the cloth around my head I'm able to do that as well.

Unfortunately, that doesn't make the wind bother me any less. Everyone else seems to be doing fine but because of my small size, it's hard for me to keep going. Trekking through sand is harder than it looks, especially if you're barely a foot tall and sand keeps getting in your eyes. It isn't long before I'm nearing the rear of the group. Chopper transformed into Walk Point to help get through the sand, but I'm just stuck like this.

"Need a lift?" Sanji eventually asks me, slightly holding out his arm.

I glance ahead, seeing everyone else still moving without any hindrance and I shake my head, continuing on my own. I give myself a hard push and force myself to move ahead of Sanji and back to the middle of the group. If Chopper can make it through this, then I can too!

"Look! I see a light ahead!" Vivi calls, pointing ahead.

"Does that mean we've made it to Yuba?" Luffy asks.

We all look ahead through the sand, and sure enough, a city is sitting a while away waiting for us. But...is it just me or does it look empty? I shudder, and not because of the wind or cold night air. "Something's not right." Vivi says worriedly. We make our way a little closer so we can see the city a bit better, and we see sand ripping through the place in a huge gale.

"The town's being hit by a sandstorm!" Vivi exclaims. Well, that explains the wind. The wind picks up thanks to us being closer to the storm and I squeeze my eyes shut. I feel myself get pushed back a few inches, my paws dragging through the sand and I push myself against it as hard as I can. I crouch and place a paw on my cloth to keep it from blowing away.

I can feel Sanji standing near me, probably to make sure I don't get blown away. Is this what it feels like to be babied? Cause I'm not liking the feeling so far…

The storm finally stops and we fully enter the city. The whole place is covered with sand and multiple palm trees have fallen over. "This doesn't look good…" Zoro mutters. "This doesn't look any different from that Erumalu place."

"Vivi, didn't you say this place is an oasis?" Sanji asks.

"The oasis must've disappeared." Vivi answers. "It's been swallowed up by all the sand." Well that can't be good, especially if the rebel base is supposed to be here.

My ears twitch as I hear something like metal striking dirt. We all turn to see an older man in a wide hole with a shovel, slowly digging into the sand. "I assume that you're travelers," he says, in a painfully hoarse voice. "You must be exhausted from traveling in all that heat." He doesn't turn around to face us, nor does he stop digging.

"Unfortunately, this city is a bit dried up at the moment; it's can't offer much but you're free to rest for a while." He finally glances at us as Vivi covers her face so he won't recognize her. "We don't have much water but we have plenty of inns here." The man says.

"Thank you, but…" Vivi says. "We were hoping the rebel army was in this town."

It takes that one sentence for the guy to completely snap. "Curse all of you!" He throws multiple barrels and sand at us to drive us away. Geez guy, we just got out of the desert, cut us some slack! Thankfully, he eventually stops, but delivers some bad news. "If you're looking for those fools look elsewhere; they're no longer in this town."

We all gape in horror, "They're gone?!" Are you kidding me?! We came all this way for nothing?!

"Sandstorms are a regular occurrence here, slowly drying up our oasis." The man explains. "Without supplies the rebels packed up and left; they're now in Katorea."

Vivi's eyes widen, "Katorea?" she gasps.

My ears twitch as the image of the map pops into my brain. Yeah, isn't Katorea near Nonohana which is...oh my Arceus, it's back the way we came! There's no way we can get to the rebels in time if we have to go all the way back! To make matters worse, turns out that Eyelash was actually delivering rebel weapons when he first met Chopper (long story).

The boys gave Eyelash a good beating for leaving out that little detail. Unfortunately, the man heard Luffy say Vivi's name and he comes up towards her. "Wait...you're name is…Vivi?"

"Wait! She's definitely not a princess!" Luffy blurts out, receiving a pound from Zoro. Nice cover up there, as always Luffy.

The man comes up and grasps Vivi's shoulders, "You're alive...thank goodness!" he says happily. "Don't you recognize me?"

It takes Vivi and minute, but she eventually jerks in realization. "Toto…" My ears perk up at the name; isn't that…? Yeah, that's the name of Kohza's father! I remember when Vivi was telling us about him, he and Kohza left to create Yuba! Whoa, what are the chances?

"Vivi...I still believe in you and the king." Toto says, tears coming to his eyes. "He's a good man who would never do such a thing!" He falls to his knees and explains how the rebels are at the end of their rope. They're planning to end everything in one final battle, ready to die if that's what it takes. "Please Vivi! You have to stop these fools from tearing our country apart!" Toto begs.

We're all silent until Vivi hands him her handkerchief. "Toto...please don't worry; we will succeed, and we'll put a stop to this once and for all." We all watch the exchange in silent agreement.

"Thank you Vivi…" Toto whispers.

* * *

Toto showed us to one of the inns and we all start to get settled. I jump onto one of the beds and almost want to fall asleep right there on the spot. They're so comfy! And the pillows are heavenly! Not bad for a desert city!

"Well, we've all done great work today, so I think we've earned some rest!" Usopp says, and quickly curls up on his own bed.

Zoro scoops up a pillow and nails Usopp right in the head with it, "Please, this whole trip you've been nothing but lazy!"

Usopp slowly gets up, rubbing his head, "Quit comparing me to you and all the other superhuman freaks!" he retorts, and throws a pillow right into Zoro's face with deadly accuracy.

"Now you're pushing it…" Zoro growls just as Usopp slams Chopper with another pillow; I keep forgetting how badass of a sniper he is!

"I think Chopper takes to award for laziest talking animal in the desert!" Usopp says. Wow, wait to put Chopper in his own special category, ya jerk.

"You try walking around with a fur coat!" Chopper yells indignantly.

Suddenly my ears twitch; my Sanji alarm is going off. I turn around and sure enough…

"Sanji, I think that's my bed…"

"I know, I thought you might have trouble sleeping all alone tonight Vivi!"

I growl when my eyes land on a pillow right next to me. I grin and quickly smack a pillow right in his face with my tail. "Nice shot, rodent." Zoro chuckles.

"And the award for biggest pervert goes to Sanji." Usopp comments with Chopper giggling on his shoulder.

I let out a snicker making Sanji gape, "You little traitor!" I give Sanji a look, gesturing for him to come at me with my paw. Sanji cracks his knuckles, "Alright, I hope you're ready."

"Pika." _'Bring it, love cook.'_ And the pillows start flying.

We all run jump and chuck pillows at every opportunity making the whole place seem like a warzone. Even Nami and Vivi aren't spared from the battle. The pillow fight eventually turns physical as we all pull and smack each other in one big pile.

But the fight ultimately ends when someone steps on my tail; hard. I squeak in pain and I let loose a giant blast of electricity, filling the whole house, but not damaging anything thankfully. Everyone falls to the ground, only covered with slight burns. Guess that lightning attack was more quality than quantity. But at least it got the job done.

"Okay, I give…" Usopp mutters. "You win Pika-chan…"

"Pikachu!" I give a wide smile and proudly flash a peace sign, my victims lying around me. That's how I roll!

Thanks to my sudden win, everyone finally realizes how tired they are. It isn't long before I'm curled up next to Sanji on his bed and everyone's sleeping soundly.

* * *

The next morning, we all get ready to head out. We bid farewell to Toto and he gives Luffy a small barrel full of water. Luffy had helped him dig last night and that was all the water he was able to find with his help. "That there is genuine Yuba water." Toto says. "It's not much, but it's all I could get."

"Then I'll drink it with care." Luffy responds.

After that, we're on our way. I walk on my own once again, feeling really refreshed from sleep last night, so much so that I'm able to trot near the front of the group without trouble. However, once Yuba is a good distance away and we pass a small tree, Luffy suddenly stops and sits against it. It takes everyone a minute to realize that their energetic captain is sitting still for once.

"Luffy! What are you doing over there?!" Usopp demands. I walk towards him and tilt my head when he doesn't respond. He looks like he's in a bad mood.

Vivi approaches him, "Is something wrong?"

Luffy is silent for a moment before looking up at her, "I quit." Uh...what?

"Oh c'mon!" Usopp groans. "We don't have time to deal with every little mood swing you have!"

"And shouldn't we get going?" Chopper adds.

"Yes we should," Sanji agrees. "If we don't make it back to that Katorea place the way we came then a million Alabasta citizens will start fighting and things will get real ugly!" He goes over to Luffy, "So, let's go." He tries to pick him up by the front of his shirt but Luffy simply tosses him away like a doll. Something clearly isn't right here…

"Vivi…" Luffy says, giving her a serious look. "Right now all I want to do is kick Crocodile's ass." Straight to the point as always. "Maybe we can stop the rebellion but that won't stop Crocodile and we won't be able to accomplish anything in Katorea. We're pirates and everyone knows they're better off without us."

"Th-That's not true!" Vivi tries to protest but Luffy continues.

"You want it to work out so that nobody dies in this fight, right? We're up against one of the Seven Warlords of the sea a millions of your people, and you still want everyone to end up safe and sound." He looks directly at her. "You'll never win that way."

Vivi clenches her fists and grits her teeth, "And what's wrong with that, huh?" She demands. "What' so wrong about not wanting to see people die?!"

"Because people die." Luffy answers simply.

I flinch as I realize that he's right. Alabasta is pretty much at war now; it's way too late to solve this without any kind of violence. We may be able to set everything straight, but there's no way we can do that without some kind of sacrifice. As much as it hurts to admit it, peace can't stop wars, that's not how life works. People are always willing to die for what they believe in and nothing can dampen that spirit.

I wince as Vivi gives Luffy a hard smack, sending him across the sand, "Don't talk like that!" she yells. "Why should any of the good people have to pay for what's going on when it's all Crocodile's fault?!"

Luffy gets up, springs towards Vivi, and punches her, sending her to the ground. "So you're saying it's only alright for you to die?!" he demands. My eyes widen at that while everyone else is still pretty much in shock that Luffy had punched Vivi of all people.

Is that what Vivi had been planning to do all along? Give her own life just to stop Crocodile from hurting her people and her family?

Vivi gets up and tackles Luffy. "Just being in this country I can tell what this country needs!" Luffy says as Vivi starts punching and smacking Luffy with all her might. "And you think that just putting your life on the line is enough to stop everything?!"

"Then what else can I put on the line with it?!" Vivi demands. Luffy finally reaches up and catches her arms, stopping her attack. "I don't have anything else to put on the line…" Vivi says in defeat.

Luffy pushes Vivi off him and grasps her shoulders, "Then you can at least put all our lives on the line together!" he yells. "Aren't we friends?!"

Everything seems to freeze with his words. Vivi's eyes widen and tears immediately start to fill them. "Well? Aren't we friends?" Luffy asks again, but more softly. The dam finally bursts and Vivi starts to cry while Luffy picks up his hat. "Now you understand." he says. "I know how much you hate this; you want to get Crocodile the most."

Guess that's my cue. I give a sad smile and walk over to Vivi. I tap her leg making her look at me and I give a nod of reassurance. Vivi picks me up and gives me a hug, her tears falling on my cloth and I close my eyes, letting her hug me. Nami comes over as well and hugs her from the side as her sobs start to get softer.

Vivi wipes her eyes and her grip loosens on me. She sets me in her lap, her hands still holding me and takes a deep breath, "You guys…" she sniffs. "Luffy's right." My ears perk up as her eyes become determined. "Change of plans; we're going after Crocodile."

"Pika." I say with a nod. _'Atta girl.'_

"So where is this damn Crocodile?" Sanji asks.

Vivi pulls out a map and I move to her shoulder. "Crocodile is here, in Rainbase; it's about a day's journey from here."

Luffy grins, putting a hand on his hat, "Alright! Then let's go!"

* * *

A few hours later, we're walking through the hot sun like before. I roll my eyes as Luffy and Usopp start whining about the heat again. Nami tells them to stop but it's really hard to take her seriously when she and Vivi get to ride the camel. On the bright side, Chopper and I have both managed to walk on our own without passing out or needing to be carried! I'd call that an accomplishment for both of us!

"Vivi, does Rainbase have a water supply?" Chopper asks.

"Oh yeah, no shortage there." Vivi answers. "It's a gambling town, isolated from all the fighting." Oh Arceus, she just said the G-word…

"Ooh! Gambling?" Nami asks eagerly, her eyes glistening with money.

"Don't even think about it, Nami!" Zoro warns.

Just then, "Gum Gum No Way!"

We all turn to see Luffy stretching his arms, keeping the small barrel of water away from Usopp. "C'mon Luffy, let me have some!"

"Gum Gum Leave me Alone!" Gotta give him credit for creative names.

"C'mon, just one sip, please!" Usopp whines. "Isn't that why he gave it to you?"

"The old man had to dig all night just to get this much water!" Luffy retorts. "We can't just drink it like it's normal water!"

"Wow! So you can restrain yourself." Nami says, impressed.

"Of course I can, duh!" Luffy shoots back. "That was a rude thing to say!"

"Hey, Luffy." Vivi says, getting off of Eyelash. "Thanks for before; I never would've been able to make this decision on my own."

"Then give me food." Luffy says. Huh…? "After I beat up Crocodile, give me food; I'll eat till I explode!"

Vivi smiles, "Okay, I promise." Be warned Vivi; this man will eat you out of house and home in no time at all.

We keep moving and soon we're all starting to wear thin. I stick out my tongue a bit in exhaustion when something finally comes into view. "There it is." Vivi says.

"Is that the city?" Chopper asks. Oh good! We made it!

"So that's Rainbase huh?" Luffy says. As we approach the city, we make it clear that we need to be careful. With the exception of Chopper, Sanji, and myself, Baroque Works knows exactly what we look like and assassinations are their specialty.

"I need water…" Usopp and Chopper groan.

"There is none! Let it go!" Zoro snaps. "The _rodent_ is smaller than you and it's not complaining!" I look up at Zoro; did he just compliment me outside a fight? Huh, never thought I'd see the day.

Once we're right at the outskirts, Luffy charges ahead, "I'M GOING IN!"

"Hey! Wait for me!" Usopp yells, running after him.

"Hey! You might want to take some money along!" Nami calls after them. Sorry Mom, but I think it's wishful thinking that they'll stay out of trouble.

I flinch as one of the figures from my mind flashes for a split second. That was weird… that's never happened before. What caused it though? I still couldn't see what the figure looked like but I think I saw...red? Red or orange maybe? Hmm, I can't remember, it came and went too quickly! Dammit… well, maybe it'll happen again and I'll see more clearly.

The rest of us enter the city, get some water, and decide to sit under the shade of a large palm tree to cool off. "I'm gonna go use the little boy's room." Chopper says after a while and starts to walk away. I give Sanji a look before heading after him; I have a pretty good feeling that we shouldn't go anywhere alone.

I accompany Chopper and wait outside as he does his business. I imagine he wants to get all that sand and sweat out of his fur; it is a lot thicker than mine after all. "Ah, much better!" Chopper sighs as he exits, changing back into Walk Point. "Now let's head back." I nod and we do just that.

But when we get there, everyone's gone! "Pika?" I tilt my head.

"Where did they go?" Chopper asks. He sniffs the air and turns a certain direction, "Luffy's smell is that way." he says. I nod and we hurry down the road. "Zoro's smell is here too!" We eventually reach an intersection and we both stop. "Sanji's smell goes this way." he says facing the left. "What's going on?"

Our answer is given to us as a horde of Marines practically run us over in a hurried frenzy. "What was that?" Chopper says as we get to our feet.

Oh great...a horde of running Marines can only mean one thing… "Pika!" I say.

"What, the Marines?" Chopper asks.

"Pika pika pi!" I continue.

Chopper frowns, "Uh...could you repeat that?"

I bite back a groan, "Pika...pika...pi!" I repeat slowly.

"What?! They're chasing the others?!" Chopper exclaims. "Well, that actually makes sense now that I think about it."

Good to know, now let's move! I gesture for us to move and we run through the city. We run through multiple allies, but we see no sign of any of our crew. However, as we're running someone appears in our path. Chopper and I skid to a halt and Chopper pops back to Brain Point.

It's that sword girl from Loguetown that's with Smoker! Not good!

I quickly leap behind a nearby crate while Chopper smacks right into the wall. He quickly recovers and hides by the crate with me...only he's doing it backwards again! Arceus dammit, if we're gonna hide, at least hide properly! I grab him and yank him back so he's fully behind the crate. We both peek out at Sword Girl.

"Isn't she with the Marines?" Chopper squeaks.

"Pi." I answer with a nod.

Sword Girl mutters something to herself before turning and walking towards us. My jaw drops as Chopper suddenly runs out in front of her, "No! You can't-!" I facepalm as Sword Girl topples over him, her glasses flying off and landing on Chopper's face.

I think he blacked out for a minute because in a few seconds Sword Girl is shaking him and asking if he's okay. I just stay put where I am until Chopper finally wakes up and takes off the glasses. "Um, excuse me?" he asks shyly. "Are these yours?"

"Oh my glasses! Thank you!" Sword Girl exclaims, taking them. "You're such a kind person." She gets up and walks out of the alley. She talks to a nearby Marine and then walks off, making me deflate in relief.

My nose then twitches and I smell tobacco. I only know one person who smells like this. I turn to see Sanji standing at the end of the alley, most likely having watched the whole exchange. Thank goodness Sword Girl and the Marines missed him!

"Did you hear that, she said I was a kind person!" Chopper squeals, wiggling happily. "But I'd never listen to a bastard like that, of course!" I sweatdrop; you really need to work on hiding your true feelings.

"You two alright?" Sanji asks, coming towards us.

"We're fine." Chopper responds.

"Pika." I agree with a nod.

"Good." Sanji says, looking around for any signs of Marines. "C'mon, we have to find the others; they should be at Rain Dinners by now."

"Right." Chopper says with a nod and we start back towards the streets. In a matter of minutes we arrive at the casino, Rain Dinners. Sanji said that Vivi told them that that was where Crocodile worked, so if he was anywhere, it'd be here. Plus, Chopper could smell their scent nearby so they had to be here.

We stay out of the middle of the road so to stay out of the way of any Baroque Works creeps and wait, but after a while, there's no sign of Luffy, Vivi, and the others. "This is weird, they should be here, by now." Sanji says, lightning his cigarette.

"Could they have found Crocodile already?" Chopper asks but Sanji shakes his head, "Trust me, if that was case the whole casino would probably be a pile of rocks by now."

"Pika pi…" I say worriedly.

"Ah! What if they got caught by the Marines?!" Chopper asks frantically.

"I'm starting to think that might be the case." Sanji answers. "That Smoker guy seemed pretty dead set on chasing Luffy."

"Then what do we do?" Chopper asks.

Sanji blows out a puff of smoke, "I think it's time we get some answers." he says, his eyes falling upon a lowly Baroque Works employee. It only takes a few minutes to get the answers out of him, leaving him bloody and bruised on the ground. Luffy and the others all ran into the casino but haven't come back out. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Crocodile had them.

"What do we do?" Chopper asks. Sanji is silent for a moment as he lights his cigarette again, "I think it's time we make use of our hidden identities." he says. "Crocodile has no idea we even exist but we're still gonna have to be careful." He gives our informant a little kick, "I think this guy still has one more use left, and we're all gonna have to be careful if we want to make this work."

Sanji tells us a majority of the plan and then looks at me. "Pika-chan, you sneak in there and see of you can find the others." Sanji says, catching my attention. "You're better at sneaking around than either of us and signal us when you've found them."

I nod and Sanji gives me a pat, "Be careful in there, okay? If something happens and you can't signal us, we'll be in there soon."

"Good luck, Pika-chan!" Chopper agrees.

"Pika!" I say with a small salute and run off. I stay out of the road and hide behind a palm tree. I gaze up at the casino. It's entrance is giant and people are constantly coming in and out of the place. Looks like I can sneak along the bridge and through the front door. I'm so tiny that hardly anyone notices me, and with my ears covered I shouldn't draw much attention as I normally do.

I'm about to move when my ears twitch. I turn and I see a figure a few yards away. It's about four or five feet tall and looks really thin and a bit lanky. It takes me a moment to realize that it's not a human, it's some kind of reptile looking thing standing on two legs.

As I take the figure in, my eyes widen and my pulse speeds up like never before. Muddy brown...smooth scales...sharp fangs and claws...black stripes and spikes down its back to match its beady eyes...no way...is it really-?

* * *

 **WHO'S THAT POKEMON?! (been waiting forever to say that XD )**


	44. Decimal

**Chapters 814 and 815 of the manga...GOD ODA, I NEED CONTEXT! FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING PLEASE EXPLAIN THESE MYSTERIES ABOUT OUR FAVORITE COOK TO US!**

* * *

A Krokorok...I can't believe it...it's a Krokorok!

I don't know how I know but I just do! This creature...it's just like me! I can't put my finger on it, but I know it's true!

The Krokorok begins to walk away and panic begins to rise within me. I'm gonna lose him! I start to bolt after him, but my quick start causes me to slip and stumble in the sand, throwing me out into the open. I shake my head and get up, my cloth having fallen off my ears.

I flinch as the Krokorok suddenly spots me. _'A Pikachu?'_ My heart freezes in place. _'Huh. Never thought I'd see one all the way out here of all places.'_

I was right; he is like me! He's speaking my language! This could be my chance! I can finally figure out who I really am! I quickly make to walk in the opposite direction so the Krokorok doesn't suspect anything and he eventually goes on his own way. I then turn and begin to slowly sneak after him, putting my cloth back over my ears.

I follow closely as he makes his way around and eventually enters a side door. It's on ground level, unlike the entrance; maybe this is where Crocodile's secret base is. Once the Krokorok enters, I wait a good while before following. I enter just in time to see the Krokorok turn a corner. I zoom in and follow as quickly as I can, running down multiple hallways that all look the same.

Eventually I skid to a halt as the Krokorok stops before entering a room. "Krokorok; kroko." He says. _'I'm back; no one suspects a thing outside.'_

"Very good." I shiver at the responding voice. It sounds like the voice on the Transponder Snail in Little Garden! It's Mr. Zero! Once the Krokorok fully enters the room, I creep forward, staying glued to the wall all the while.

Once I'm close enough, I'm finally able to see Mr. Zero/Crocodile in all his glory. In short, he's terrifying. Tall, intimidating, and looks like he could end a person with a single strike. So this is what a Warlord of the Sea looks like…

I quickly hide behind the doorway as a familiar woman enters my vision; it's Ms. All Sunday! I strain my hearing as she seems to be giving Crocodile a report, "The Millions are chasing after Princess Vivi as we speak." She's saying.

"And the Straw Hats?" Crocodile asks. "All of them except the pet are in custody."

"Good." Crocodile gets up from his chair. "I suppose now's a good a time as ever to greet our guests."

"Shall I retrieve the princess?" All Sunday asks.

"Yes, I want her present for the big finale. Once those pesky pirates are out of the way, Project Utopia will finally be underway."

My ears perk up. Project Utopia? What on earth could that mean? I lean in closer to try and listen more clearly when-

 _'You can give up that lame hiding act.'_ The Krokorok suddenly says, making me freeze. _'I knew you were following me ever since I saw you outside.'_ I try to hide my surprise as I allow myself to come into the open.

"What is this?" Crocodile asks in disgust. "A rodent?"

In response, I lower the top half of my scarf, allowing my ears to pop out. "Pikachu."

"Interesting." Ms All Sunday says with a knowing smile, looking between me and the Krokorok. "I can truly see the resemblance now; I knew there was something special about you."

The Krokorok faces me while Crocodile glances at Ms All Sunday, probably wanting an explanation. "I encountered this creature on the Straw Hat's ship." All Sunday explains. "After observing its abilities and traits on Whiskey Peak, I assumed it was somehow similar to Decimal." she smiles. "It seems I was correct in this regard."

So that's what she meant back then… _"It would be a shame to have to put down a creature as special as you."_

And this Krokorok's name is Decimal? That sounds like is has the same Baroque Works theme going for it, but it sounds special in a way. A decimal isn't a number, it's a sign that goes next to a number, right?

Crocodile stares at me flatly, as if the very sight of me is boring. "I see." He turns to go. "In that case, I leave its eradication to you Decimal."

"Kroko." _'Understood master.'_ Decimal says. Crocodile and All Sunday exit the room and the doors on both sides slam shut, leaving me and Decimal alone. _'So, you were the one who took out our agents on Whiskey Peak.'_ Decimal says.

I shrug, _'Zoro did most of it…'_ I mutter.

My response goes unnoticed as Decimal takes a step towards me. _'Well, let's get this over with…'_

 _'No.'_ I say firmly.

 _'What?'_ Decimal asks dangerously.

 _'I said no.'_ I repeat, my resolve not wavering at all. _'I don't want to fight, I want answers.'_

 _'What?'_ Decimal gives me a look, _'You overheard that whole conversation, what more could you possibly need to know?'_

 _'I want to know who you are.'_ I respond.

Decimal gives me a look like I've lost my mind, _'Oookaaay…'_ he says slowly. _'I guess the short version is, I'm Decimal; Crocodile's most trusted ally.'_

 _'Trusted ally?'_ I ask.

Decimal smiles with pride, _'I've been with Master Crocodile for as long as I can remember,'_ he says. _'His Sand Sand Fruit powers and my own abilities go hand in hand so he decided to keep me around.'_

Oh great; of course Crocodile would have Devil Fruit powers! He wouldn't be a Warlord of the Sea if he wasn't strong and what better way to juice up your strength then to have inhuman powers at your command?

 _'But enough about me,'_ Decimal says. _'Your turn; who exactly are you?'_

I suck in a breath, _'I...I'm Pika-chan, of the Straw Hat Pirates.'_ I say firmly.

My bravado quickly wavers as Decimal snorts, _'Pika-chan? Seriously?'_ he asks. _'Did your Master give you that name? Beware, the dreaded pirate Pika-chan!'_

I can't help but blush at the blunt sarcasm as Decimal tries and fails to hold back his laughter; Sanji, one day I will get you for giving me this stupid name… I shake my head; I'm getting off track here! _'I don't have a Master and-and you still haven't answered my question!'_

That makes Decimal stop laughing, _'What do you mean I didn't answer your question?'_ he remarks.

 _'I want to know **what** you are.'_ I clarify.

Decimal lets out a loud chuckle, _'You're joking right?'_ he asks. _'I'll admit, I needed a good laugh today, thanks!'_

I growl as my patience quickly runs out. _'Just answer me!'_ I exclaim indignantly. I get on all fours, battle ready. _'Answer me or I'll **make** you answer me!'_

Decimal seems amused by this, _'Is that a threat?'_

I ready my stance, _'If that's what it will take to get answers, then yes!'_ I dart forward and white energy surrounds me. I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get the answers I need, and I won't let this jerk stop me! I easily make contact with Decimal's middle, making him gasp and slide back a few feet.

I quickly follow up, making my tail iron, and slam my tail right into his chin. That attack throws him into the air a bit, but he quickly recovers. _'Alright, tiny…'_ he growls. _'You asked for it!'_ He raises his arm, _'Dragon Claw!'_

Before I can react, Decimal's claws glow and elongate. I let out a scream as he slashes me right across the middle. It feels like a giant axe slamming into me. The cloth around me gets ripped to pieces as I fly through the air. I fall to the ground and my paw quickly goes to my chest feeling for a wound but...there's nothing? But...those claws should have cleaved me in half, shouldn't they?

 _'Mud Shot!'_ I look up just in time to see Decimal shoot a giant stream of mud from his mouth. Before I can even move, the attack slams into me and I feel pain like none ever before. I slam into the wall before the attack stops and I drop to the ground. My body feels heavy and exhausted as my breaths come out in heavy pants.

What's going on?! Two attacks and I can barely move?! What kind of power is this?!

Decimal grins toothily, _'This is what happens when lightning goes up against the earth.'_ I barely manage to get myself onto all fours and Decimal's eyes widen, _'Wow, still going, huh?'_ he says. _'I've never met another electric type that could last this long; congrats.'_

I glare at him and dart towards him, white energy surrounding me again, but Decimal side steps out of the way and his claws elongate again. _'Not this time! Dragon Claw!'_

His claws hit my side sending me up into the air and I shake off the pain as best I can. I near the top of the wall and push off it with my feet, back towards him. I make my tail iron and flip towards him, putting all my weight and energy behind it when-

 _Clang!_

My heart nearly stops; he blocked me with his own tail! It's iron too! How is this possible?!

 _'Sorry.'_ Decimal says. _'But you're not the only one with a wide moveset.'_ He gives his tail a flick, flipping me back into the air and shoots another Mud Shot at me, hitting me dead on. I scream as I fall to the floor, skidding across the smooth tile. I never knew mud could hurt this much!

 _'Alright, better wrap this up if I wanna catch up with the Boss.'_ Decimal says starting to move towards me. I give him a nasty shock, but to my horror, it does next to nothing.

Decimal darts towards me, through my attack and rams me with his head. _'You're pathetic.'_ Decimal hisses. _'I would've thought a decent fighter like you would know basic type matchups.'_ He sighs, _'Arceus, this day has been one disappointment after another.'_

Hearing the use of my own term, my mind is practically begging for sustenance. _'What...are you?'_ I choke out. I try to struggle to my feet, but they keep slipping out from under me.

 _'Man, this is just sad.'_ Decimal comments, ignoring my question and slowly approaching me again. _'I almost feel bad for beating you into the ground.'_ He leans towards me. _'Oh wait, no I don't.'_

He opens his maw and his teeth start to glow. I barely have the strength to cry out as his fangs pierce my skin and he lifts me into the air. His grip tightens as he shakes me like a rag doll and throws me back onto the ground, making me bounce and land on my back. Once again, despite biting me with inch long fangs, there are no open wounds.

I gasp as he steps on my chest, taking almost all my breath away. He grabs my ear and yanks it up, pulling my head up painfully with it. _'Listen up tiny; the only reason I'm letting you live is because I have standards.'_ he says. _'Only someone truly heartless would kill a fellow Pokémon like this.'_

I open one eye; Pokémon…?

He gives me a sharp kick, making me roll across the floor and into the wall, making me end up on my stomach and he starts to walk out of the room. _'Do the smart thing; get out and don't let me see you again, or I might change my mind about letting you live.'_

I shakily lift my head at Decimal's retreating figure. _'Hey!'_ I bark, making him pause. _'We're not done, you hear me?!'_

Decimal slightly turns back towards me and chuckles, _'Big words.'_ he says. _'But I doubt that you actually have the guts to back them up.'_

And with that, he leaves the room leaving me behind, hurt, confused, and humiliated.

* * *

Gah! Ow, geez…

C'mon Pika-chan, just one paw in front of the other and you'll-

Ow! Arceus...I can't even limp without it stinging!

I lean against the wall and I desperately try to pull myself along. I have to hurry if I want to find my way back to Sanji and Chopper. The only problem is, I have no idea where I am! I know I'm still somewhere in Rain Dinners, but that's about it! And with these injuries slowing me down, who knows how long it will be before I get out let alone find someone I know!

Sanji's really gonna chew me out for not giving the signal he wanted; I really hope I didn't screw up his plan. I've been gone for what feels like hours! It took a good long while for me to finally get the strength to get up and even longer to move this far through the hallway, and I've barely even made it halfway! The door is still a good few yards behind me!

It takes me a moment to realize what a bad move I had made, following Decimal instead of looking for the others. I pretty much jeopardized my life and my friends because I put my own needs first. My desperation to find an answer to my memory completely overrode my common sense. In fact, it even affected my fighting; I pretty much pulled a Luffy and threw myself at Decimal without even thinking what kind of moves he could throw at me!

Arceus, I'm such an idiot!

I lean against the wall with a sigh, wincing as I look down at myself. I'm filthy thanks to that mud, and I'm covered in bruises. Guess I should be glad that none of those attacks didn't leave me bleeding out or I'd really be screwed. The strange this is that I feel exhausted more than hurt. My whole body feels like lead and aches every time I move even an inch. The urge to curl up and sleep is bigger than any other right now and it's weirding me out!

With an irritated moan I lean my head back and look up when something catches my eye. It's a window! And it's open! If I could just get up there… I grit my teeth and slowly get to my feet, turning towards my passage to freedom.

I can do this...I can do this... okay, one...two...three!

I summon the last of the strength and jump. I barely manage to latch onto the edge of the window, my arms protesting from the sudden strain. I let out an audible cry of pain as I slowly hoist myself up and over. I don't bother checking how far I am from the ground because my body goes stiff, allowing me to fall out the window.

I fell for a good few seconds before I hit the ground, bounced and rolled onto the familiar dirt road of Rainbase. I open my eyes and drag myself over to the nearest wall, breathing heavily. Good Arceus, this is brutal! How the hell did mud of all things hurt me this badly?

 _'I would've thought a decent fighter like you would know basic type matchups.'_

 _'This is what happens when lightning goes up against the earth.'_

I feel the slightest tug in the back of my head, but nothing comes to light. But if I want anything to make sense, I've got to get the answers out of Decimal, beat it out of him if I have to. He may have won today, but I'm not letting him best me again! I swear on my missing memories, I'll find out who and what I am!

I let out a weary sigh and slump against the wall; it wouldn't hurt to get a little more rest. I just need to remember to get to the rendezvous point we had agreed on.

* * *

I sit quietly out of everyone's way for a good few hours when I look up to see the sky turning pink. Oh crap, how long have been zoned out for?! I have to get to the rendezvous point!

I jump to my feet, or I try to. I'm still exhausted; less than before but still pretty badly. I'm about to limp away when my ears twitch. I hear the sound of running footsteps and loud shouting. Marines. And that can only mean one thing.

I quickly limp in the direction of our agreed meeting spot, doing my best to stay out of everyone's sight until I reach the road leading out of the city. I see a large figure up ahead and my instincts are quiet, so that probably means it's according to plan.

I move towards the figure, trying desperately to pick up the pace when it finally comes to light. Is that…a giant crab? I don't dwell on it too long because I see six familiar heads on top of it and one head in front of it, glancing around. The wind brings me a scent of strong perfume and tobacco that I know anywhere. It's them! I made it!

I lift my head and let out one final cry. "PIKA!" _'SANJI!'_

A few seconds later, I get the response I want. "PIKA-CHAN!" Sanji starts running towards me and I limp towards him as fast as I can. Sanji fully sees the state I'm in before he even reaches me. "Pika-chan!" he exclaims, kneeling down when he arrives.

"Pika pi…" _'Hey partner…'_ I say half-heartedly.

Sanji picks me up, looking my injuries over. "What happened?" he asks. "Who did this to you?!"

I look up at him through tired eyes and don't respond. If you want something resembling a straight answer, you're gonna have to get Chopper for translation.

"Sanji!" I hear Luffy yell. "Grab hold!" Luffy's hand stretches out and Sanji grabs it. With a yank, we're pulled back to the top of the crab, allowing me to finally sigh in relief, deflating in Sanji's grasp. I was really afraid I wasn't going to make it…

"Pika-chan!" Nami exclaims, hurrying over to Sanji and me. "What happened?"

"I wish I knew." Sanji says in a low, dangerous voice. The crab starts to move and Chopper glances at me. At least I know he's paying attention.

I say the only words needed to get the message across, taking in Chopper's broken English version. "Pika...chu...pika pi…"

Chopper frowns. "Decimal?" he asks. "That's who hurt you?"

I nod and Sanji growls. "Let me guess; one of Crocodile's cronies?" I nod and Sanji's eyes practically blaze with anger. "When I get my hands on that bastard…"

"Wait!" Vivi suddenly exclaims. "Did you say Decimal?"

I give her a nod and she pales. "Vivi? Are you alright?" Usopp asks.

"Do you know who this Decimal is?" Zoro asks.

"All too well…" Vivi says in a shaky voice. "That thing...is Crocodile's personal guard dog."

"What do you mean?" Nami asks. But before Vivi can answer, my ears twitch. Something's coming! I look up to see something glinting in the sunset and flying towards us.

"Pika!" A giant golden hook wraps around Vivi and yanks her right off the crab.

Chopper makes the crab stop and Luffy's eyes widen. "It's him!" Before we can stop him, he stretches his arms and grabs the hook. He quickly frees Vivi and throws her back towards us, leaving himself on the hook to be dragged back.

"Luffy!" Nami yells.

"That damn idiot!" Sanji growls. I look ahead where the hook is pulling Luffy and see three familiar figures. Crocodile, All Sunday, and...

"Pikachu…" _'Decimal…'_ I growl. Even though we're so far away, I can feel his eyes on mine, glaring each other down.

"You guys go on ahead!" Luffy yells just before the hook drops him into the sand. "Promise me you'll get Vivi home! Promise!"

We all stare at our captain, obviously conflicted until Zoro breaks the silence. "Let's go Chopper!" he says. "Keep moving!"

"Right!" Chopper says, biting back tears and he snaps the reins.

I don't break my gaze with Decimal until he's fully out of sight.

* * *

 **Yeah...that battle went about as well as to be expected...Pikachu vs Krokorok...pretty straight forward match. Especially if you have amnesia and you've completely forgotten the basics of battles X(**

 **Oh but don't worry, Pika-chan will DEFINITELY have a rematch with its new adversary! ESPECIALLY since Decimal is Crocodile's right hand, er, Pokémon. And maybe we'll figure something else out about Pika-chan when the time comes ;)**


	45. Alabarna

"Say WHAAAAT?!" I cringe at Usopp's screech. "You mean Crocodile has something like Pika-chan on his side?!"

Nami frowns in thought, "So there really are more creatures like Pika-chan out there…" she mutters.

Chopper sits beside me, looking over my injuries, "Did you know about this Pika-chan?" he asks.

I shrug and shake my head in response. "If Pika-chan did know it wouldn't remember anyway." Sanji says, understanding my gesture.

"At first I thought it was just a coincidence." Vivi says softly. "But after a while, I realized that you have a lot in common; you both can only say your names instead of English, you both can turn your tail to iron, and you both can control a certain element of nature."

"So does this Decimal use lightning attacks too?" Zoro asks.

Vivi shakes her head, "No, Decimal uses earth and ground based attacks; he's Crocodile's most trusted for a reason."

"Ground and earth?" Nami asks. "No wonder Pika-chan got so beat up; earth doesn't conduct electricity so lightning wouldn't even scratch it!"

"That's true," Usopp says, rubbing his chin, "All the people we've fought have either been things from the water or human, nothing earth related."

Sanji looks at me, "You doing okay, partner?" he asks.

"Pika." I say with a nod.

"From what I can tell, you're more exhausted than anything." Chopper says to me. "Your pulse is off the charts and you're in pain even when I touch an area that's not bruised." He frowns slightly, "It's strange; it's like your body was completely overworked instead of injured…"

"So Pika-chan will be okay?" Vivi asks.

Chopper nods, "A good long rest and Pika-chan will be just fine." Well, that's good to know.

Sanji pats my head, "Well, in that case you should get some sleep now; you'll need your energy when we get to Alabarna." I nod and I crawl onto his lap. I curl up and fall asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Sanji gave a small smile as Pika-chan instantly fell asleep on his lap. He resisted petting his tiny partner, not wanting to wake it from it's sleep or irritate its injuries. He frowned at the sight of all the bruises and dirt coating his friend. This Decimal character was going to pay if Sanji ever came across him. Unless of course, Pika-chan wanted its own shot at him.

Sanji had been a bit worried when Pika-chan hadn't given them the signal like they had planned. The plan had been a success without any trouble regardless, but he couldn't help but feel his worry rise when he hadn't come across Pika-chan on the way through Rain Dinners or even among his captured comrades. When the place flooded he had hoped that would draw Pika-chan out and to them, but still no luck.

When the Marines came into the picture (those bastards always manage to come at the worst time) the fact that Pika-chan knew the rendezvous point was the only thing that kept him from tearing off from the group and going to search for his partner on his own. While he trusted Pika-chan to hold its own in a fight, he dreaded what would happen if the little guy came across Crocodile or some high ranking member of Baroque Works.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what happened; Pika-chan had run into Decimal, Crocodile's guard dog and gotten pummeled. He was beyond grateful and relieved that Pika-chan had come back to them alive and not been captured or...dead.

He sighed and stared at the quickly setting sun. Ever since coming to this desert, it's been one struggle for Pika-chan after another. First there was the discouragement with its missing memories (he certainly hadn't expected such a big emotional response from the mouse) and now it had been beaten into submission by one of its own kind.

A thought then occurred to Sanji; what if that was the reason Pika-chan was alive? Could Decimal have spared the mouse? He shook his head; none of those Baroque bastards had shown any inkling of mercy that he had seen. As far as he knew, all they cared about was tearing this country apart and didn't care who or what got in their way. What Vivi has gone through is proof enough of that.

He looked back down at Pika-chan and finally placed his hand on its back. The mouse shifted, but ultimately didn't seem to mind the touch. Sanji smiled slightly and went back to staring at the endless terrain of sand; Pika-chan had protected him back on Drum, and now it was his turn to protect his partner.

* * *

I'm not sure how long I was asleep for, but when I felt Sanji gently shaking me awake, I opened my eyes to see that night had fallen.

"Feeling any better?" Sanji asks. I give a nod, a bit confused at the bits of panic in his voice. "Good, cause we're about to go for a dip."

That makes my ears perk up. It's then that I realize that the crab we're riding is going about a hundred times faster than usual. I manage to get up and wince a bit. I'm not as tired as before by my body still aches like there's no tomorrow. Maybe if I move around a bit I'll get better.

Wait...did Sanji just say we're going for a dip? I look ahead just in time for a river to come into view and the crab begins to shuffle right across it. But that only lasts for a good few minutes before it starts to sink; what? I thought this was a crab! How can it not travel across water?! Is this yet another detail that Vivi forgot to mention to us about her homeland's dangers?

I stay on Sanji's shoulder, not trusting myself to swim just yet and we all start to swim for the shore. "How long will it take us to reach the shore?" Usopp asks.

"The rest of the night." Vivi answers.

Oh man, we just can never catch a break can we? Just then, the water rumbles and a giant fish with sharp teeth emerges from the water.

Screw you, karma…

"It's a Sandoran Catfish!" Vivi exclaims. The fish dives back into the water and begins to chase us.

"Pika-chan! Can't you use your lightning to fry this thing?" Usopp cries desperately.

I shake my head, "Pika! Pika pi pikachu!" I exclaim, gesturing to the water around us.

Luckily, Sanji gets what I'm trying to say, "Idiot, if Pika-chan zaps it while we're in the water, we'll _all_ be fried!"

Just then, the fish stops moving abruptly. We all stop and look as it seems to be jerking around a bit and it's face looks pained. A few moment later, the fish is pushed into the air, surrounded by a bunch of familiar looking sea creatures.

"Kung Fu Dugongs?!" Usopp exclaims.

The Dugongs all start to cheer and congratulate each other on their victory before one swims over to Sanji and me. The Dugong gives a salute and lets out a few barks.

"He said that they felt their Master's distress and rushed in to help as fast as they could." Chopper says translating. Huh, I never thought having followers would pay off!

I smile and return the salute, "Pikachu!" _'Thanks a lot!'_

The Dugong nods and barks again. "It's asking if there's anything else they can do to help." Chopper clarifies.

I look back at the knocked out fish and slowly smile; I think I have an idea.

* * *

A few moments later, we're all riding on the back of the fish, the Dugongs guiding the limp animal towards the shore. It's only about an hour until we reach the shore. We dismount the fish and I go up to the Dugongs. "Pikachu!" I say, bowing my head slightly, thanking them again.

The Dugongs all nod and salute me, which I return before heading back to my friends, giving them one more wave as I run. I was probably still wincing in pain a bit because Sanji picks me up once I arrive. Alright Dad, that's enough babying for one day.

I tense as I get another flash through my mind. It's almost exactly like back when we entered Rainbase with a tall figure appearing for only a split second. Only this time the flash of color is different, it looks...yellow I think? And I think I saw a tinge of blue in there as well. I wait, but nothing more happens to reveal what I just saw. Two figures, one with red and orange, and another with yellow and blue...what could it mean?

I think hard, but I get nothing. Dammit… what triggered it that time?

"Now that things are going smoothly, can we make it in time?" Zoro asks, snapping me away from my thoughts.

"I don't know." Vivi says. "Even riding Eyelash, I'm not sure when we'll get there."

"Not to be pessimistic-" Really? You, pessimistic Usopp? I never would have guessed… "Eyelash can only carry two and Baroque Works will most likely attack us from here on; is there any way for us to stick together?"

Vivi bites her lip and everyone falls silent. Welp, looks like we're back to square one. Now what? The wind gently whips around us and my ears twitch. I perk up and look around, catching everyone's attention.

"What's up, Pika-chan?" Sanji asks.

I listen closely, my ears still twitching as they're picking up what sounds like...thumping? I move to Sanji's shoulder and look in the distance, when I see a trail of kicked up sand coming towards us. My eyes widen as that thumping sounds more and more familiar. "Pika pi!" I call, pointing towards the sand.

"What is it now?" Usopp demands worriedly as everyone follows my gaze.

"Wait...that sound…" Vivi's eyes widen just as seven figures come into view, accompanied by a familiar squawking sound. "It's Carue and the Super Sonic Duck Squadron!"

Duck Squadron? That's a thing? Hey, I'm not questioning it at this point! The ducks all skid to a halt, all of them wearing different hats and sporting different feather designs.

"You've come to help us haven't you?" Vivi asks. Carue and the ducks all salute us and Vivi runs forward, throwing her arms around Carue's neck. "Thank you Carue! You're the best!" she exclaims. Carue squawks happily and nuzzles against her. We all mount a duck and take off at light speed.

Next stop: Alabarna!

* * *

The sun began to peek over the desert by the time Alabarna came into view. By the looks of it, the rebels hadn't arrived yet. I crouch from my position on Sanji's shoulder, careful not to reveal myself through the big cloak he's wearing. Actually, we're all wearing cloaks, covering our faces.

A while back, Usopp reminded us that Baroque Works were most likely all on the lookout for Vivi and would be ready to capture her in a moment's notice. It was then that Nami came up with the idea to disguise ourselves. With all of us looking the same with our faces hidden, we can split up and distract Baroque Works, giving Vivi a chance to get to the front of the city where the rebels are coming from so she can hopefully stop Kohza right there.

When Alabarna comes into view, we can see a few people standing outside the wall, looking directly at us. Guess that's our welcoming committee. We all split up as they begin shoot explosives at us.

Sanji, Chopper and I make a break for the Southeast gate and get two of the Baroque Works members to chase after us. Once we make it to the entrance we skid to a halt. having successfully led everyone away from the main entrance. Now Vivi can stop the rebels without any Baroque Works on her back. I relish the looks of shock on their faces when we finally take the cloaks off and reveal that they were wrong.

However, our hope fades when cannons start firing. What's going on?! Did Vivi fail to stop them? I shudder and my ears twitch; I just got a really bad feeling, and it has nothing to do with the rebellion going on.

I turn and see two familiar ducks coming towards us. Wait, weren't those the ducks that Usopp and Eyelash were...oh no…

Sanji tells Chopper to stay put and we follow the ducks into the city to find a badly beaten and bruised Usopp and Eyelash. We weren't too worried about their injuries, it was nothing Chopper couldn't fix. But what scared us was the fact that Usopp's goggles were missing. That means that the guy who can clone himself got to them and that means-!

Vivi!

"Usopp, you go and see what you can do to help Chopper; get to the Southeast Gate!" Sanji orders and we run off. Vivi, you better be okay!

We suddenly stop in our tracks as arrows pierce the ground in front of us. We look up to see a bunch of royal guards aiming at us, "It's a rebel!"

Sanji quickly picks me up and flips out of the way of other arrows behind a large crate.

"It's a royal soldier!" We look behind us to see rebels aiming guns at us. Oh c'mon, guys!

I charge up my electricity but Sanji puts me down and takes down both parties with a flurry of kicks. Hey! No fair!

We continue running when Usopp and Eyelash's ducks appear once again.

"You two again." Sanji says as they run alongside us. "What is it? Do you know where Vivi is?" One duck lets out a squawk which we're certain means yes and they quickly begin to lead us in another direction. They lead us to an empty part of the city and my ears twitch.

"Pika!" I exclaim. Vivi's right up ahead and she looks alright and-! My eyes widen as I spot a bloody heap of feathers right in front of her. Oh Arceus, that's Carue! What happened to him?!

I look up to see what I can only describe as a creepy ballerina guy running towards them. And he's wearing Usopp's goggles! That's the guy! The ducks and I run ahead of Sanji and we all ram right into the ballerina, sending him flying back multiple yards.

"It's you guys…" Vivi whispers.

I quickly run over to Vivi and Carue, looking over them. "Pika pika?" _'You guys okay?'_

"I'm fine…" Vivi says, understanding my expression. "But Carue…"

I look at Carue and bite back a gasp at his condition. He's covered in sand and dirt and reeks of blood. I gingerly place a paw on his hat and give him a smile; he was protecting Vivi this whole time wasn't he?

"Nice job, Captain Carue." Sanji says as he approaches us. I nod in agreement; he truly loves Vivi and would do anything to protect her. I know if it was Sanji and me in this position I would've done the exact same thing.

"Now Vivi, don't you have a rebellion to stop?" Sanji asks. "Don't worry, I'll take care of this creep." Vivi nods and runs off and the two ducks carry Carue somewhere safe while I glare at the ballerina.

Judging by Vivi's descriptions that she told us of all the number members, this guy is Mr. 2 aka one of Baroque Works strongest, third to Crocodile. This guy probably isn't anywhere near as strong as Decimal or Crocodile himself, but he's bound to be a formidable opponent. We'll have to be careful.

Mr. 2 gets up and I growl at him. This guy is gonna pay for what he did to our friends!

Sparks fly from my cheeks but Sanji steps in front of me. "Sorry Pika-chan, but you're sitting this one out." I look at him in shock. What?! "You still haven't completely healed up yet," Sanji continues. "Just let me handle this and make sure Vivi gets to the palace."

He walks towards Mr. 2 before I can even retort. I grit my teeth and grudgingly start to follow Vivi. We make a good way through the city, around all the fighting, but I can't keep my mind off Sanji.

Why didn't he let me fight with him? My injuries are just about healed, he knew that...right? And that guy is one of Crocodile's best! I know Sanji's strong, he's one of the best but...will he be okay?

"You're worried, aren't you?" I glance at Vivi and grimace; is it that obvious?

"Pika-chan." I look up at Vivi. "It's okay, I'll go on alone." she says with a smile. "You go back and help Sanji."

"Pika?" _'Are you sure?'_ I ask. I don't want to go help one of my friends if it means I have to abandon another.

"I can handle this, I promise." Vivi says. "Go on and hurry back."

I give her a big smile and quickly run back the way I came, bidding her good luck as I run back the way I came.

* * *

 **Yeah, nothing really happens here but you can all look forward to what's coming next! ;) (BTW that part with Carue ALWAYS breaks my heart :'( )**


	46. Mr 2

I easily find my way back to the spot where Sanji was and I skid to a halt at the sight. Sanji's on the ground, covered in cuts and bruises and standing over him is...Nami? No, that's not her, Nami wouldn't be caught dead in that stupid ballerina outfit!

That's right, Mr. 2 can copy faces! And he has Nami's face on right now so...oh son of a bitch, are you serious Sanji?

"You're exactly what they mean when they say he's nothing but talk!" Mr. 2 laughs, in Nami's voice (Arceus this is so weird to watch). "I bet you don't even have the strength left to stand!"

"You bastard…" Sanji growls.

And that's my cue; get off my partner you cross-dressing creep!

I zoom towards the fight and white energy surrounds me. Right before Mr. 2 can say another word, I slam right into his stomach. I land between Sanji and his opponent as Mr. 2 stumbles backwards, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath, Nami's face still on him. He slaps his cheek, turning his face back to normal and coughs, "You...you dirty little pest!" He chokes out. "You'll...you'll pay for that!"

I smirk and sparks fly from my cheeks before I give Mr. 2 a good lightning attack. He stands wearily on his feet twitching and burned pretty badly while I inwardly shiver with pride. After that fight with Decimal, it felt good to have my attacks actually do some damage! While he's dazed, I quickly run over to Sanji. "Pika? Pika pi?" _'Sanji? You okay?'_

"Pika-chan?" Sanji grunts as he sits up, "What are you doing here? I told you to let me handle this!" I roll my eyes; yeah and letting you handle this was going _so well_ before I got here.

"I told you to go with Vivi!" Sanji continues. "Is she alright?" I bite back a groan and nod; are you seriously going to lecture me now? "Hurry up and get back to Vivi." Sanji says. "I need to finish this guy off, or there's no telling what damage he'll do." He winces as he attempts to get up.

I grit my teeth and grab his arm. Does he seriously think I can't handle myself against a guy like this? Yeah he beat up Usopp but I'm not Usopp! I have powers! I can fight! "Pika pika!"

Sanji grits his teeth, "I'm not arguing with you now!" he bites out. "Just hide somewhere so you'll be safe!"

And that's the last straw! I smack his arm with my tail. "Pika!" _'Dammit, quit babying me already!'_ I glare at him. _'I'm not some glass ornament! Just because I'm small doesn't mean I need looking after every second of the day!'_

At this point, Mr. 2 has just about recovered from my attacks. "How dare you ignore me!" Mr. 2 squawks indignantly and he leaps towards us. "Get out of my way you little pest!"

I respond by quickly turning around and giving him another electric attack, stunning him again. You mind? We're talking here!

I turn back to Sanji and point to Mr. 2. "Pika pika!" _'I can help you, so let me help!'_

Sanji looks like he's considering it, reading my basic expressions with great accuracy, but he sighs "You barely survived that fight with Decimal-"

"Pikachu." _'It was one fight, Sanji; I don't need you to protect me all the time.'_ I give him a hard look. _'I'm your partner, and partner's stick together and protect **each other** , especially in a fight.'_

Sanji looks at me and I have a pretty good feeling he just understood me again. I smirk, _'So how about we show this creepy ballerina what we can really do?'_

Sanji smirks back, "You're right, partner." he says, shaking his head. "How is it that a mouse like you always manages to change my mind so easily?"

I smile, "Pikachu." _'We're partners; I know you inside and out.'_ Now, I believe we have a certain Baroque Works member to lay waste to.

Sanji slowly gets to his feet, "This guy may know my weakness…"

I smile and turn back to Mr. 2, _'...but we don't have the same weakness.'_

"What's this?" Mr. 2 asks, getting over my electric attack once again. "Are you letting this vermin fight with you?"

"So what if I am?" Sanji asks dangerously.

Mr. 2 shrugs, "I suppose dirty pirates have to have dirty pets," he comments, making me tense. Calling me pet is one thing, but calling me a 'dirty' pet? Now you've crossed the line!

"You're gonna regret saying that." Sanji says. "Pika-chan's way more than just a pet." Damn straight!

"Oh come now." Mr. 2 says. "Having your little friend with you won't change the outcome of this." He strikes a ballet pose. "Like I said, you're nothing but talk!"

"I'll show you talk!" Sanji bites back and we both leap into action, Sanji raising his leg for another kick. Mr. 2 changes to Nami again but Sanji doesn't back down, and I jump onto his foot. "Armée de L'Air…" I turn my tail to iron and position myself. "...Iron Shoot!"

Sanji flings his leg, kicking me right off his foot. I immediately start to somersault, my tail creating a ring of iron around my body. I slam right into Mr. 2's face like a pinball and I flip away, landing successfully on the ground in front of him. I jump back towards Sanji as he recovers pretty quickly.

"Lucky shot!" he growls, through gasping breaths. "But you won't get so lucky this time!"

Sanji runs towards Mr. 2 again who takes off his fake eyelashes flings them towards us like boomerangs. Sanji easily dodges them and raises his leg for another kick. I immediately start to run towards Mr. 2, white energy surrounding me again. I have a pretty good feeling about this...

Mr. 2 slaps his cheek, becoming Nami, "Please, don't kick me!" he says in a mock pleading voice, making Sanji stop short of his kick. I knew it!

I pick up the pace, and slam into Mr. 2 again, sending him to the ground when my ears twitch. Crap! The mascara! "Pika!" I warn, pointing behind Sanji. Sanji lands and barely jumps out of the way, the mascara giving him a shallow cut on his cheek before the weapons return to Mr. 2's eyes.

Mr. 2 glares at me, "What is this?!" he demands. "Some dirty rat teaming up with a human?"

"Pikachu!" I snap, _'I'm not some dirty rat!'_

"I told you, it's more than just a pet." Sanji says standing up straight.

"What do you mean?" Mr. 2 demands.

"Pika-chan's my partner," Sanji answers, walking up to stand beside me. "You can't have a proper meal without a suitable vintage to bring out the true flavor, after all."

I can't help but grin smugly at Mr. 2 as his eyes widen. "P-Partner?!"

"Pika pikachu." I say, sparks flying eagerly from my cheeks.

Mr. 2 wavers a bit but quickly recovers, "No matter! Partner or not, I can still take you down with my perfected Ballet Kenpo!" he says. "I'll finish you both off with my next attack!" Sanji and I both get on alert as Mr. 2 gets on his tippy toes and starts to spin, faster and faster.

We watch warily as his face changes back from Nami's to his own and Sanji smirks. "I see now." he says. "There's a flaw in your attack."

Well, Nami's face is gone so no need to worry; let him have it Sanji! Mr. 2 spins so fast that he's a blur of blue and pink but Sanji times it just right, planting a hard kick right in his chest. Mr. 2 flies into a nearby building and falls to the ground. "Just as I thought." Sanji says smugly.

Mr. 2 gets up angrily, "Thought what?!" he demands. "What part of my ability could a philistine like you appreciate let alone see through?!"

"Just that you can't use your precious Ballet Kenpo when you're assuming Nami's form." Sanji answers, making Mr. 2's jaw drop. Yeah, that's a pretty big flaw, if you ask me.

After a few moments, Mr. 2 starts to laugh, "What's that? I can't hear you!"

"Guess I'm right." Sanji says.

"Pika." I nod.

"Alright, so it's only with my magnificent god-like physique that I can perform my Ballet Kenpo!" Geez, this guy's ego is off the charts. "But who cares?" Mr. 2 continues. "Even with help from your little friend you're still black and blue!"

He then takes the two swan heads off his outfit and places them on his feet. "Now behold the Prima of Ballet Kenpo!" he announces. "I'll only say this once then you're dead! The one of the left is female and the one on the right is male."

Oh yeah, definitely vital information, thanks.

"Who cares?" Sanji retorts, a vein popping on his head.

"Whether you see through it or not doesn't matter!" Mr. 2 says. "Now prepare to die!"

Sanji and I get ready and Mr. 2 leaps towards us. He thrusts one of his legs towards us and the swan elongates. Sanji barely moves out of the way as the beak of the swan penetrates the wall. Holy crap, that was like a bullet! He didn't even break the plaster!

"Think of my kicks as shots from a high powered rifle." Mr. 2 says gleefully. "But the bullets are of a much higher caliber!" Oh man, this could get ugly…

Mr. 2 aims another kick at us and Sanji grabs me, flipping out of the way only to have Mr. 2 come right at him with another attack, the swan's beak shooting towards him.

"Colliet!" Sanji quickly blocks the leg with his own, but that doesn't stop Mr. 2. His other foot lashes out but I speed into action. I make my tail iron in the blink of an eye and quickly knock it away, allowing Sanji to jump back. That was too close!

"Damn, his reach is longer than mine…" he mutters.

"Pika…" I agree with a nod; we're gonna have to be real careful now.

"But it takes him longer to recover," Sanji continues. "If I can avoid his kicks, it'll give me more time to attack." He looks down at me and I give him a nod. Just leave it to me; I'll make sure none of his kicks scratch you.

Mr. 2 starts to flip towards us, his foot ready and I jump onto Sanji's shoulder. He quickly jumps over Mr. 2 and brings his leg up to land a kick. Mr. 2 quickly taps his cheek, turning into Nami again. "What are you gonna do now, lover boy?"

Sanji grins and I leap from his shoulder, making my tail iron. I hit Mr. 2 right across the face, making him tumble to the ground. "Longe!" Sanji lands and suddenly appears right behind Mr. 2 just as he's getting up, landing a hard kick to his back.

"Tendron!" He follows up with a kick to the neck.

"Flanchet!" He makes to kick again, but Mr. 2 does as well. I quickly run up and make my tail iron again. I leap right in front of the swan and bring up my tail, protecting me and Sanji from the blow. Mr. 2 brings back the goose for another shot, but I easily knock it away, allowing Sanji safe escape.

"Impossible!" Mr. 2 yells, running towards us again for another attack. "How are you two countering my attacks so easily?! What kind of power do you have?!"

Sanji and I nod to each other and charge towards Mr. 2. "I told you…" Sanji says. "We're partners!"

What happens next is a flurry of kicks and iron as Sanji and Mr. 2 flip and spin every which way, trying to land hits. I stick near Sanji, using my speed and small size to run and jump into small spaces to block any attacks that Sanji can't protect himself from.

 _'Sanji may not be able to block every attack…'_ I jump right up and lock Mr. 2's foot with my iron tail once again allowing Sanji to land a hit. _'...but I can!'_

Mr. 2 skids across the ground but gets back up with a battle cry and starts the whole thing again. I don't back down, blocking every attack I can and taking chances to land hits myself, however they don't do much damage since I'm focusing all my energy into blocking.

"Pika-chan may not be able to land very hard hits…" Sanji easily kicks Mr. 2 in the stomach thanks to another one of my blocks, making him fly back, choking on air. "...but I can!"

The kick makes Mr. 2 gasp for breath, giving me an opening. I give him an electric shock and Sanji goes in for another kick. "Don't hurt me!" Mr. 2 changes his face to Nami's again in a last attempt to save himself, but he fails to see me appearing on his shoulder.

I make a face at him, making him scowl. "Why you little-!" he raises a hand to hit me, but I move just in time, making him hit his left cheek. The hit causes Mr. 2's face to return to normal. We're in the clear!

I give Mr. 2 one more slight shock, stunning him before jumping back next to Sanji and we both leap towards him.

"We may have flaws when we're apart…"

 _'...but together…'_

Sanji raises his leg.

My tail becomes iron.

 _ **"We're unstoppable!"**_

Both our attacks land perfectly on Mr. 2 and he goes flying into a nearby wall. He falls to the ground, flat on his back. Sanji lights a cigarette and I inwardly beam with pride. And that's how partner's role!

"I...I give up…" Mr. 2 chokes, making me slightly on edge.

"You've gotta be kidding...you're still alive?" Sanji asks. We approach him as he stares straight up at the sky.

"Don't worry, I can't even move." Mr. 2 says. "There's no point in avoiding the inevitable." He glances at us. "I congratulate the both of you. Your teamwork...it has the most flawless form I've ever seen. You're lucky to have a friend like that." It takes everything for me not to blush at his words.

Mr. 2 closes his eyes, "Now...kill me." My eyes widen slightly; just like that, he's willing to die just because he lost? "You might as well," he continues. "Baroque Works will do it anyway…" I look up at Sanji, unsure of what we should do, but Sanji says and does nothing. "What are you waiting for? Do it!" Mr. 2 urges.

I watch as Sanji slowly smiles and holds his hand out to Mr. 2. "It was a good fight." he says. "And beyond that, we don't need anymore words, do we?" I smile and give Mr. 2 a genuine smile. It was thanks to him that I finally got to show Sanji what I'm made of, and how strong we truly are as partners.

Mr. 2 takes his hand and sits up, tears coming to his eyes...right before Sanji gives him one last hard kick to the head. I take Usopp's goggles off his head and we walk off.

"Bye now; and we'll be taking our sharpshooter's goggles back." Sanji says.

"Pika pika!" I call with a wave, not looking back. I put Usopp's goggles around my neck and trot next to Sanji. He's a lot more beat up than me, but he's looked a lot worse.

"I hope I didn't crack any bones again." he says as we walk.

"Pika." I say with a smile; only he can say that so nonchalantly.

Sanji looks down at me, at me a smile pulling at his face. "You keep swooping in to save me like this and Zoro will never let hear the end of it."

I roll my eyes, "Pika pi." _'Well, someone has to keep an eye on you.'_ I smile back at him, catching his eyes, unspoken words echoing between us.

 _"Sorry I tried to keep you on the sidelines."_

 _'It's okay.'_

Just then, my ears twitch ever so slightly as I feel like I'm being watched. I slow down ever so slightly, Sanji continuing ahead, and I glance around, instincts on alert. _'Mr. 2, beaten? Never thought I'd see the day…'_

I flinch as a sickeningly familiar voice graces my ears. I turn to see a familiar creature watching me from the shadows of a nearby ally. _'You!'_ I growl. _'What are you doing here?'_

 _'Watching the action.'_ Decimal says with a shrug. _'I knew you were a decent fighter, but man, those Iron Tail blocks were pretty damn impressive, almost like…'_ he trails off and looks away.

I tilt my head, letting my guard down ever so slightly, _'What?'_

 _'Nothing, just reminiscing a bit.'_ Decimal says, waving his paw.

I catch him glancing at Mr. 2's unconscious form and I scowl, _'Did your **Master** send you here to finish the job?'_ I ask with a frown, practically spitting the word. _'Is that the only thing Crocodile uses you for? Killing the ones he deems useless so he won't get his hands dirty?'_

Decimal frowns; I guess I hit a nerve. _'I can come and go and do what I please.'_ he growls.

 _'And yet you call Crocodile 'Master'.'_ I point out.

Decimal snorts, _'Like you're any different.'_

 _'What's that supposed to mean?'_ I snap but Decimal ignores me.

 _'You know it's weird,'_ he says. _'You and Blondie managed to take down one of my Master's best fighters, yet you don't know squat when it comes to fighting me.'_ He studies me. _'You should know that lightning has no effect on ground types like me.'_

I glare at him, _'Sorry, but my mind's a little fuzzy when it comes to fighting creatures like me.'_ I get into a battle ready position. _'But if you think that'll stop me, you've got another thing coming.'_

Decimal says nothing and just stares at me, not doing anything. _'Well?'_ I ask sharply. _'Didn't you come here to finish me off?'_

Decimal glares at me. _'I told you, I have standards.'_ He says. _'I'm not killing one of my own kind.'_

I frown slightly, _'Why not?'_ I dare to ask. _'Aren't we enemies?'_

 _'Sure we are.'_ Decimal says. _'But imagine if our positions were switched; would be able to kill me?'_ I open my mouth but an answer dies on my tongue.

 _'See? It's a species thing.'_ Decimal says. _'I can't kill you and you can't kill me; we're each other's trump card.'_

I hate to admit it, but he's right. Even when I first fought him, I was never planning to kill him. Something deep down is saying that I can't kill him, but why? I feel another slight tug in the back of my mind, but still nothing.

Decimal glances down the road ever so slightly. _'Now your Master on the other hand, I'd have no problem taking **him** out.'_ I tense as he eyes Sanji. _'All I'd have to do is stomp my foot and I could bury him alive under rock and stone.'_

I growl and sparks fly from my cheeks, _'You lay a hand on him-'_

 _'And you'll what?'_ Decimal asks sharply. _'You try to take me on again and it'll just end up one way; you beaten and bruised on the ground and your Master, cold and lifeless under fifty feet of sand.'_

My eyes blaze with anger. _'You-!'_

"Hey Pika-chan! Let's go!" I flinch as I hear Sanji calling me.

Decimal smirks. _'Go on, your Master's calling.'_ I glance between Sanji and Decimal as he smiles down at me. _'I'll be seeing you real soon, Tiny; I'm looking forward to our rematch.'_

I grit my teeth; I want to tear into him so bad, but I can't risk Sanji getting hurt. I give Decimal one last growl before hurrying after Sanji. "What was that about?" Sanji asks when I catch up.

I stop myself from glancing back towards Decimal and shake my head, "Pika." _'It was nothing.'_

Sanji gives me a look but doesn't press me, and we continue on our way. My head's spinning as we walk; what was that all about? Why didn't Decimal finish me off right then and there?

This is the second time he's spared my life...but why? Is it really because we're the same species? Is it some kind of honor system that my kind has? I guess I can kind of understand that but then again, this is probably something my amnesia is keeping from me so I have no freaking idea! Gah!

Okay calm down, just don't think about it! Rebellion now, Decimal and amnesia stuff later!

We walk through the city until we reach the outskirts and we see Chopper and Usopp walking along and...yikes, they've seen better days! Chopper has a ton of bruises and Usopp looks like a mummy with all the bandages! Must've been one hell of a fight!

"So you're still alive." Sanji says as we approach them.

"Sanji! Pika-chan!" Usopp exclaims.

"Oh! Sanji, you're hurt!" Chopper notices worriedly.

"Does this mean you beat up Mr. 2?" Usopp asks.

"You better believe it," Sanji looks down at me. "We both taught him a lesson, didn't we?"

"Pikachu!" I say proudly with a salute. I then approach Usopp taking his goggles off my neck and handing them back to him.

"You got my goggles back for me?" Usopp asks, a smile coming to his face. "Thanks you guys, you're the best!" He places them back on his head and one of the lenses snaps off. Well, they were on a guy who Sanji was kicking the crap out of sooooo…

"They're broken! I take back everything I said, thanks for nothing!" You're welcome…

"Hey, look at that." Sanji says, looking out to the desert. I jump onto Chopper's back and we look to see what looks like a whole bunch of people running towards the city. "That must be the auxiliary force for the rebel army." Sanji says. Yikes, that's a lot of men. "I guess Vivi wasn't able to stop the fighting in time."

"This is just great!" Usopp moans as Eyelash come up to us. Where has that stupid camel been this whole time?

"Let's get to the palace, maybe there's still a way we can help Vivi!" Sanji says.

"Right." Chopper says.

"Pika." I jump off Chopper and we run after Sanji, Usopp riding on Eyelash. I glance at the army once more before focusing on running.

Just hang in there Vivi…

* * *

 **And now you know one of the many reasons I decided to pair Pika-chan with Sanji. Because someone's gotta handle the fight when chivalry gets in the way (Yes, I'm looking at YOU, Kalifa! Just wait until I get to YOUR fight!)**

 **I had way too much fun writing that tag team battle! But man Sanji, you have way too many moves to remember! I had to constantly look back at his list of moves to make sure I was spelling them right and matching them to the right kicks!**

 **I am also enjoying writing Decimal immensely! And I'm not even that big a fan of the Sandile line! *rubs hands together* I REALLY can't wait for their rematch!**

 **Finally, I'm PRETTY SURE that unless it's a predator vs prey situation (or if they're in Nuzlocke Land), Pokémon don't kill each other, just make them faint. They really only attack when provoked and if they killed each other for sport, there would be dead Pokémon bodies all over the freaking place. That seems like a pretty sound reason to me, anyway.**


	47. Bomb

As we ran closer and closer to the square, the chaos got more and more loud and destructive. The square was covered by a sandstorm, making visibility from far away practically impossible. Luckily, it turned out we all won our Baroque fights, though some of us looked way worse for wear (Zoro…). To our delight, Vivi was at the base of the palace and so was Luffy, alive and uninjured along with another guy who I'm guessing is friends with Vivi.

"Luffy! He's alive!" Chopper squeals happily.

"See, what did I tell you?" Usopp says, failing to hide his teary eyes. "I knew it all along!"

"For someone who knew it all along, you sure sound surprised." Sanji says.

"Pika…" I sigh, my ears drooping.

On the other hand, Luffy already has his arms stretched up to where Crocodile is and is raring to go. "Sorry guys." he says. "I know I lost to him once before, but this time...I'm gonna win! The rest is up to you!"

"So get going already." Zoro says with a smirk. And with that, Luffy shoots up with a loud battle cry towards Crocodile.

Once he's gone, Vivi turns to us and explains that in just over ten minutes the square is going to be blown up by a cannon. "According to Crocodile, if the cannon is fired no one within five kilometers will survive!" she says urgently. Well, that certainly isn't good.

"That means both the Rebel and Royal armies will be completely wiped out!" Chopper exclaims.

"Well, what the hell are we supposed to do now?!" Usopp demands.

"We look for the cannon." Zoro says. "And we stop the cannoneer from shooting." Okay, that's a good start to a plan.

"But how do we find him?" Usopp asks.

"And in ten minutes!" Nami adds.

"Not by standing around here!" Zoro retorts. "But if the whole square is set to explode then doesn't the cannoneer have to be far away to not get blown up himself?" Usopp points out.

"No." Vivi says out of nowhere. "He's almost certainly near the Palace Square."

"But that means he's gonna get caught in the explosion too!" Usopp cries.

"Guess we shouldn't be too surprised; it is Crocodile." Nami points out. Very good point. This guy is pretty much the definition of evil, there's no way he would worry about the life of one person if it got in the way of his plans.

Before we can all split up to search a Baroque Works member appears behind Vivi, raising his sword to strike. Luckily, Sanji and Zoro down him in a millisecond. Unfortunately that doesn't stop a whole horde of Baroque goons from coming up to take a shot at Vivi. What was it Zoro called these guys way back when? Guys who carry out their orders like herded sheep? Yeah, that sounds about right.

"Looks like we may lose some time." Sanji says.

"So let's not waste anymore talking." Zoro agrees. "Let's go."

"Chu." I agree, standing between them. Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Vivi and her bodyguard start off and Zoro, Sanji, and I leap into the fray. Sanji kicks down a bunch, Zoro cuts down a bunch, and I electrocute a bunch.

"Well that's two seconds." Sanji comments. He and Zoro stand back to back and I end up standing on their shoulders.

"Your counting isn't helping!" Zoro remarks.

"Just keeping track." Sanji replies.

"Pika!" _'Let's go!'_ I say and we head back for more.

It only takes us another two seconds to take the rest of them out and the three of us head off in our own separate directions to look for the cannon. I run through the streets as fast as I can, all my senses on high alert, but that's harder than it looks. There's no point trying to find it by smell since there's gunpowder and sand everywhere and all the chaos makes my hearing damn near useless.

I'm gonna have to really think here. Where would I keep a cannon that has the power to destroy an entire square? The cannon has to be huge; there's no way a normal sized cannon would have that much fire power. Plus, it would have to be in a spot where it can be aimed at the square. Could it be underground? Or in the air somewhere?

 _'The clock tower.'_

I skid to a halt as that familiar voice graces my ears yet again. I look into an ally like before and sure enough, there's Decimal, watching me from the shadows. _'What do you want?'_ I ask sharply. _'I'm a little busy here!'_

 _'The cannon's in the clock tower.'_ Decimal repeats. I look at him in shock. Did he just-? _'The thing's timed so good luck trying to disarm it.'_ A smirk ghosts across his face for a split second. _'But considering how stubborn you are, it shouldn't be a problem.'_

I stare at him for a good minute, comprehending what he just said to me. _'Okay, what's going on?!'_ I suddenly demand. _'Seriously, first you let me go after Crocodile told you to kill me, then you don't take Sanji and me out when you have the chance, and now you're telling me where to find this bomb?'_ I glare at him. _'Why are you helping me? And don't just say it's a species thing again! You're flat out betraying your Master by doing this! Why?'_

Decimal says nothing and turns away from me. _'Isn't it obvious?'_ he asks. _'We won't get our rematch if you're dead.'_

My eyes widen. Decimal turns to me slightly, _'It's been awhile since I've had a proper battle with another Pokémon; I don't plan to let this opportunity go to waste.'_

Decimal starts to walk away and I snap out of my shocked daze, _'How do I know you're not just screwing me over?'_ I ask.

 _'You don't.'_ Decimal answers simply, stopping for a moment. _'But considering how much time you have before this place is blown sky high, I don't think you have many options.'_ He continues walking. _'I'll see you later, Tiny; I'll be at the royal temple, west of the palace. Our rematch happens there.'_

I watch him go a bewildered expression on my face. He turns a corner and I hurry after him only to see a hole where he just was. Wait, did he dig his way to me? Is that how he keeps showing up everywhere? So this guy really is associated with earth like I am with lightning…

I frown slightly and then look back towards the square where the clock tower is. I hate to admit it, but Decimal's right; I don't have time to make a choice! It's all or nothing!

I bolt back the way I came towards the square, easily avoiding the fighting thanks to the sand and my small size until I reach the building. I enter the building and find myself faced with a whole bunch of stairs. Guess I'm on the right track.

I bound up the stairs as fast as I can until I finally reach the top, revealing a large dark room full of gears and a loud ticking noise echoing throughout the area. My eyes widen as they fall on probably the biggest cannon I've ever seen, pointing right where the clock face is closed. Decimal was right after all.

I make my way towards the cannon when I hear voices, making me freeze. "It won't be long now Ms. Father's Day! Less than ten minutes left!" A very flamboyant voice exclaims.

"Ribbit! Indeed Mr. 7! I can't wait for the big finale! Ribbit ribbit!"

Arceus dammit, I should've known there would be guards! This is what Crocodile's banking on after all. Well, at least they don't sound too threatening and I've got the advantage of a surprise attack here. Better make this quick.

I creep through the room and sneak along the cannon, finding my two targets near the front, close to the clock face. I move to the top of the cannon so as to get a clear shot and not accidently make the bomb go off and I focus right on the two Baroque Works members. I concentrate extra hard, making the lightning bolt small but super charged and in a second, Mr. 7 and Ms. Father's Day are extra crispy on the ground.

I decide to restrain them as well, sending a decent wave of lightning to paralyze them for good measure. Now to take care of this bomb. I glance at the clock face; looks like I have about seven minutes to get the job done.

I quickly jump off the cannon and spy the giant fuse on the ground. I quickly follow it to where it enters the cannon and begin chewing. I gnaw it off, leaving just about no fuse hanging out of the cannon.

Just then, Decimal's words come to mind. _'The thing is timed, so good luck trying to disarm it.'_

Timed? And I have to disarm it? I move to the mouth of the cannon and peek inside, seeing the bomb, but the sight makes my eyes widen. The bomb is huge for one thing (not a big surprise) but it's made of smooth fancy metal and a little clock is ticking away on the head. So Crocodile had a backup plan. Well, this could be a problem.

I climb fully inside the cannon and carefully approach the bomb, realizing just how big it is the closer I get to it. I notice that there are a bunch of holes around the head, just about my size. Could this be what Decimal meant by disarm?

I hesitantly reach out and brush the bomb for a split second before pulling back. Nothing happens.

I reach out again and slowly place my paw on the smooth metal. Nothing happens. So far so good.

I inch over to one of the holes in the bomb and peek through. I see a bunch of gears turning like the ones on the clock and a few electrical wires. I stare at the wires and for some reason, I lick my lips. Without thinking, I carefully climb inside the bomb and pick up one of the wires.

I don't know what's gotten into me but...I think...I just have to…

I bring the wire up to my mouth and bite into it. Tiny volts of electricity dance in my mouth and I sigh contentedly before starting to fully chew on the wire. I close my eyes in bliss as I sink my teeth into the wire, absorbing all the energy the wire contains like sucking moisture out of a sponge.

Once the wire is depleted of energy I quickly drop it and start on another. It isn't long before all the wires are a chewed up mess inside the bomb.

Oh yeah, I'm inside a bomb...Oh crap, I'm inside a bomb!

I'm about to bolt when I realize that the gears inside aren't turning as fast as they were before and the ticking seems to be dying down. I look down at the chewed up wires again and relief floods my entire being. Thank Arceus, that really could've ended badly! Well, I may as well finish the job while I'm here.

I pull at the gears one by one, easily clicking them out and the ticking finally stops. I climb out of the bomb and take a look at the timer. It's completely frozen. I beam with pride; I just disabled a giant bomb that's five times my size...Awesome!

I walk out of the cannon and see that the giant clock face still says it's about five minutes until the thing was supposed to go off. Oh yeah, I should probably let the others know about this...somehow. Actually...I wonder...if this thing was going to be fired at the square from here, wouldn't that mean…?

I jump out of the cannon, approach the clock face and push with all of my might. The clock face slowly but surely opens, giving me a perfect view of the Palace Square where the fighting is still going strong. Well, hopefully now that the bomb threat is out of the way Vivi can focus more on getting her people to stop.

"Look! Up there!" My ears twitch at the familiar voice. Speaking of Vivi...

I carefully gaze down and sure enough, she's there along with all the other Straw Hats. Sanji's in the building just below the tower and Zoro is a little higher up, a good few hundred yards below where I am.

I smile and wave down at them, "Pika pika!"

"It's Pika-chan!" Chopper exclaims. "What's it doing all the way up there?"

Sanji and Zoro look up at me from where they are and it takes them all a moment to comprehend that I'm standing right in front of a gigantic cannon. Everyone's eyes grow huge and they all start freaking out.

"Pika-chan! What the hell are you doing up there! Get down!" Sanji yells.

"Oh my god! Pika-chan, get down from there!" Nami shrieks.

"Stupid rodent! You're right in front of a cannon!" Zoro yells, both hands on his swords.

"Get down! Get down! You're gonna get blown up!" Usopp screeches.

"Aaah! Pika-chan! Get down get down! Hurry!" Chopper squeals, running all over the place.

"Pika-chan, that cannon is going to go off in five minutes! You have to get down!" Vivi yells.

As touching as it is to see them all so concerned for me, I better set them straight. I climb back inside the cannon (hearing their screams grow louder and more frantic as I do so) and grab a bunch of the gears I ripped out from the bomb. I come back and hold the gears up, them glinting in the sunlight. "Pikachu! Pika pi!" _'Don't worry, I took care of it!'_

The frantic yelling seems to stop as they figure out what I did and I hear a moan from below me. I look down to see those two Baroque Works guys regaining consciousness. Their paralysis hasn't worn off yet but I may as well get them out of the way. I drop the gears I'm holding, jump down from the cannon, make my tail iron and send them flying. They land right in the square, completely knocked senseless.

I then see a giant bird land next to Vivi and she points up to the clock tower. The bird flies up to where I am and stares at me, making me step back a little. "Don't worry, I'm here to help." he says kindly. This guy must be one of Vivi's friends or something.

The bird goes to the cannon, reaches inside with his talons and pulls the bomb out. "I'm going to take this somewhere safe." The bird says. "You did well; thank you."

"Pikachu." _'No problem.'_ I say with a nod.

The bird flies out of the city with the bomb and I watch him go when I remember the last thing Decimal said to me. _'I'll be at the royal temple, west of the palace. Our rematch happens there.'_

I frown slightly and clench my paws into fists. It's obvious that I'm going; I have a serious score I need to settle with that jerk! And besides he's with Baroque Works! If I let him go, there's no telling what he could do, especially as Crocodile's guard dog!

I'm not going to let Decimal get the best of me this time! And when I'm through with him, he's going to tell everything I want to know about my kind, every little detail!

I give my friends a small salute and disappear back into the clock, bolting back down the stairs. I hurry out the door and head off in the direction of the royal temple. I don't have time to tell the others where I'm going, I have to end this now!

* * *

The temple is pretty easy to find; there's even a secret entrance open. I bet you anything that's where everything's going down! I'm about to approach the place when I spy a familiar red vest and straw hat. It's Luffy, and he's...sleeping? At a time like this?

I walk over to him and shake his shoulder, "Pika? Pikachu." _'Luffy? Hey, wake up.'_

Luckily, he stirs and opens his eyes. "Huh? What happened?" he mumbles sleepily. You tell me, you're the one sleeping on the job! He glances at me and moves to sit up. "Oh yeah, I couldn't move so I decided to sleep since I didn't have any other choice."

I tilt my head; that...really doesn't sound good. His injuries probably have something to do with it. "Oh yeah." Luffy looks down at me. "What are you doing here, Pika-chan?"

I frown and point to the secret entrance to the temple. "Pika; pika pikachu!" I say, clenching my paws in determination.

Luffy grins, "I see, you wanna beat up Crocodile with me!" he says.

"Pi!" I grin and nod firmly.

Luffy grins back and gets up, "Alright! Then let's go!" He roars and we run down the stairs into the secret tunnel. However, the moment we enter, it feels like the place is falling apart. Debris is crumbling all around us and the entrance is blocked by boulders shortly after we enter.

"What's with this freaky place?" Luffy asks out loud. "It's crumbling into pieces!" I shake my worry about the temple off as we run down the long staircase; we have to take Crocodile and Decimal out now! We can worry about escaping later!

Finally, the staircase ends, leading us to a large stone area, multiple large pieces of stone and rock falling down around it. "Hey! Get on!" Luffy yells, holding out his arm. I obey, latching onto his arm and he leaps into the air, stretching and jumping on the falling debris to get us safely past.

Once we're out of harm's way, we enter a narrow hallway, pillars crashing down behind us. This place isn't gonna last long if this keeps up! Soon, the hallway reaches a dead end and Luffy raises his fists. He smashes right through the wall and we step through the rubble. The smoke clears, revealing Crocodile, Decimal, and another man who I'm guessing is the King by the way he's dressed.

A big scent of blood hits my nose and look to the side only to have my eyes widen. Ms. All Sunday is on the ground in a pool of her own blood! How the hell did that happen?!

Crocodile looks shocked at the sight of Luffy and growls, "So it's you! How are you still alive?!"

"You can't get away! You're mine!" Luffy bites back.

 _'You actually made it.'_ I turn and growl at Decimal as he smirks down at me. _'You're really something else, Tiny.'_

Okay, I'm really starting to get sick of that nickname!

I fully face Decimal, sparks flying from my cheeks. "Is that who beat you up?" Luffy asks me.

"Pi." I say with a nod.

Luffy looks at me and nods, "Alright, that lizard's all yours." he says. "And Crocodile...I'm gonna defeat you and make you give back this country so Vivi will smile again!" Luffy runs towards Crocodile with a cry and lands a hard kick to his face. Guess it's game on.

Decimal's toothy grin grows, _'I've been looking forward to this for a while.'_ he says. _'Show me what you've got, Tiny!'_

I growl and run towards him with a battle cry, Decimal doing the same.

As I fly towards my opponent only one thing repeats through my mind: I am _not_ going to lose again.

* * *

 **Cue Pokémon battle theme! (Really looking forward to this cause I LOVE writing Decimal! Maybe a little too much...)**

 **And I swear if any of you get on me about how the mechanics of that bomb work (like how there shouldn't be wires or something), just remember, I saved Pell by doing this! No unnecessary heartbreak here, 'cause dammit, I like Pell! A lot! His Devil Fruit is awesome and his relationship with Vivi is adorable!**

 ***Edit: I know Pell lives anyway, but honestly, I could've gone without that whole blow up in the sky thing. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT HURT?! When I found out he was alive I seriously didn't know whether to cheer or punch Oda in the face for playing with my feels like that X(**


	48. Rematch

**Alright, last update before my Spring Break starts! I'll try to update next week but if I don't, well, you know why.**

 ***rubs hands together* Alright, time to get this rematch underway! Shit is about to get real!**

 **Ready? You sure? Okay. Let's do this. Battle Start!**

* * *

White energy surrounds me as my head meets with Decimal's Dragon Claw. The equal force makes us get blown back a bit, leaving us open to attack again. Decimal fires a Mud Shot but I quickly move out of the way, zooming back towards Decimal again, surrounded by white energy. Since he just used that attack, he's open!

I slam into his middle, but Decimal brushes it off like last time. He activates Dragon Claw again, but I quickly step out of the way and backflip a good distance away from him. I'm gonna have to really use strategy if I want to win. We collide again, this time with our iron tails, but this time I don't freeze up. Decimal, having the larger tail, flips me up into the air, but I keep my tail iron. I swing my tail towards him again and they both collide like swords. My eyes widen slightly as for a split second, I see Zoro, holding one of his swords to block my attack.

I smirk; I was hoping that all that sparring would come in handy someday! I land and begin a flurry of quick, iron attacks, Decimal using both his own iron tail and Dragon Claws to block me. I take advantage of my small size like I always do, flipping and rolling every which way to make my tail reach near impossible angles for attack. The sound of clanging iron fills the ruins as we work our way around the still falling debris of the crumbling temple and we slowly but surely get further away from Luffy and Crocodile.

After a few more moment, we finally lock tails. _'Not bad, Tiny.'_ Decimal says, pushing back on my tail with great force. _'And I thought your moves with Mr. 2 were impressive.'_

 _'It helps when you have people to spar with.'_ I bite back. I feel a slight throb in my head but I ignore it.

 _'Oh really?'_ Decimal says. _'So your Master actually helps train you with his own body? That's a first.'_

I growl, _'Stop calling him that!'_ I yell. We finally break the lock and get a few more swings in before jumping back a few feet, putting some space between us. _'I told you, I don't have a Master!'_ I zoom back towards Decimal, white energy surrounding me again.

 _'Yet you call yourself a pirate!'_ Decimal retorts, blocking me with another Dragon Claw. _'You say you're a part of the Straw Hat pirates, that makes you their servant!'_ he practically spits. He activates his other paw with Dragon Claw and easily pushes me back.

Decimal keeps both his Dragon Claws activated and he moves towards me. _'We Pokémon are made to serve our Masters, and you're no different!'_

'You're wrong!' I yell, leaping over him and dodging his attack. I land make my tail iron, _'If you were watching while we fought Mr. 2 like you said you were, you would have heard us!'_ I swing my tail and hit him in the back as hard as I can. _'Sanji's my **partner!** '_

Decimal lets out a gasp from the hit but quickly turns around, slashing his claws. I duck just in time and swing my tail towards him, catching his other claw. _'Sanji may be a human, and he and the others may be more powerful than me in the long run, but they're my friends!'_ I glare at Decimal, my head throbbing just enough for me to slightly wince; what's going on? _'We eat together, laugh together, fight together, and take care of each other when we need it most! That's what friends do!'_

I swear I see something snap in Decimal's eyes, but I don't back down, even as the throbbing in my head spikes up slightly. _'I'm not a servant and Sanji's not my Master, none of them are! I'm not a pet! I'm a Straw Hat pirate and I don't take orders from anyone!'_

The air seems to freeze for a split second. Decimal's eyes seem to narrow ever so slightly before he knocks my tail away and rams into me with his skull, but not before I land a pretty good hit on his shoulder with my tail. I slide back a good few yards and we both face each other, breathing heavily.

 _'You're just full of surprises, aren't you, Tiny?'_ Decimal says between breaths. _'For a second there I thought you were…'_ he trails off. He shakes his head and reaches behind him. _'You've lasted a lot longer than I expected you to.'_ he says. _'I think it's time for me to step up my game.'_

He pulls out a thin white band, a strange red and blue design printed in the middle. _'I usually save this for my stronger opponents,'_ He wraps the band around his tail. _'But I think you've earned that honor.'_

I growl and get ready. Who knows what he could be planning next? We've been pretty evenly matched so far, but I feel like that's mostly because he hasn't been using that Mud Shot as much. Last time he used it a bunch, now he's only used it once this whole fight. Why? He knows how much damage that move causes me; if he used it he could easily down me if he hit me.

Is he holding back? No, that can't be...he just took out that band after all. Either way, I've got to keep my guard up. Luffy's going to town against Crocodile so I'm gonna give it my all too!

I charge towards him again, my tail becoming iron and Decimal smirks, _'Bad move.'_ He brings up his own iron tail. Our tails meet, but it only lasts for a split second before Decimal pushes me into the air again, making me hit the ceiling hard. It felt like his tail had way more force behind it than last time!

 _'This is my Muscle Band.'_ Decimal says, sensing my confusion. He holds out his tail, showing the band wrapped around it. _'When I wear it, all my physical attacks get a boost of power; now let's see what your physical strength can really do!'_

I push off the ceiling and flip back towards him with my tail, meeting his again but he easily pushes me off before meeting me with another Dragon Claw. I grunt in pain and try to shake off the blow getting back to my feet. If that move normally feels like an ax to me, this time it feels like a freaking concrete wall!

I run back towards him with my iron tail. _'You're really using some stupid band to boost your power?'_ I demand, wincing as I'm forced to jump back due to his tail. I start to run back towards him. _'Are you too afraid to fight me with your true power?!'_

 **'Fight me with your true power!'**

My eyes widen as those words echo in my head. My head starts to throb more than ever, making me skid to a halt; dammit, not now!

 **'C'mon! Fight me with your true power, and don't hold back!'**

 **'You know me; I never hold back!'**

What is this? What are these voices? I've never heard them before...have I?

I shake my head and focus back on Decimal, running towards him again. I don't have time to think about this now! I have to be more careful of his physical attacks; with that Muscle band he could easily knock me out in one hit if he's lucky. Decimal activates Dragon Claw and he swipes at me and I use my speed. I jump and move around him, looking around for any opening but he eventually catches me.

I bring up my tail and stop his claws from hitting me, pushing against him with all my might. Finally seeing the opening I need, I zip under his claws, bring my tail away and land a good hit to his side, following up with a hit to the back of his head. Unfortunately that leaves me completely open to his own tail. It becomes iron and I barely bring my tail back down to block. Once I land I quickly jump away out of harm's reach again.

I growl in annoyance. This fight is going nowhere! All my moves are matched and I've exhausted every strategy and every skill I have! The best I can do is keep blocking but even that can't last forever! If this keeps up I'll eventually be overpowered! I need a trump card! I need something to beat him! But all my moves don't do any scaling damage and lightning does squat! I need a move that's strong, a move that can really do some damage!

But...I don't know any moves like that...do I? I feel the tiniest tug at the back of my mind once again. I think my mind trying to tell me something...but what? I close my eyes and concentrate. I don't try to fight it, I just try to think back as far as I can. This feeling...I do know another move...I know I do...but what is it?

 **'Once you learn this move, you can send foes packing, even at a disadvantage!'**

I open my eyes. I do know another move...and it can help me win! I know it! But what is it? C'mon, think...think… I listen to my instincts and look towards Decimal. I feel something deep inside, like a faint pulse of energy from my body.

 **'Focus your energy, not your essence; this move is all about physical strength.'**

I reach deep into my core and focus to the best of my ability. If I know this move, then it should be instinct; it should be muscle memory. Like back on the Baratie, when I turned my tail iron for the first time. It just happened like I've known that move my whole life. It should be no different here.

 **'It's a fast but strong move. My dad said that speed is key.'**

I run towards Decimal, and my tail slowly begins to emit a dull glow. I don't feel it become iron, yet it feels like my tail is becoming hard like it's creating its own kind of armor unique to itself.

 **'Think of it as charging your electricity; build up all your energy, focus it into one place, pick a target, and boom! They're history!'**

I swing my tail and it starts to glow brightly. But this time, it doesn't turn to iron. It's full of nothing but raw physical energy, no electricity, nothing. It's my flesh and blood, powered up as much as it can be. My tail hits Decimal right in the head and to my shock, it actually hurts him! Like, really hurts him! Decimal lets out an audible cry of pain and shock as he staggers back in pain; whoa, I really got him! But...what move was that?

 _'What?!'_ Decimal exclaims. I flip away out of danger and Decimal glares at me, holding his new injury. _'How...How do you know that move?!'_

I frown in confusion and glance at my newly glowing tail. _'You tell me.'_ I answer.

I flinch as I look back at Decimal; his eyes are blazing with rage and confusion. _'That's Brick Break! Pikachu's aren't supposed to know that move naturally!'_ He grits his teeth a charges towards me, his full claw lighting up and I recognize it as the same move, Brick Break. _'Tell me...how do you know that move?!'_ he demands.

His claw and my tail meet, our similar attacks colliding. _'Who taught you that move?! That's the only way you could possibly know it!'_

 _'I don't know!'_ I answer honestly. We're blown away once again by our colliding moves.

 _'What do you mean 'you don't know'?!'_ Decimal demands. _'How else could you possibly know that move?!'_

 _'Hey, I'm just as confused as you!'_ I retort. _'I didn't even know I knew this move until now!'_

Before Decimal can retort, a loud crash rings throughout the area, most likely from the fight going on nearby. We look over to see Crocodile smash into a wall, Luffy still holding strong against him. However, the crash makes the rumbling in the temple even more apparent, and more debris starts to rain down, specifically where we are. We both move as best we can, avoiding or destroying any decent sized rocks that could actually do some damage.

I take a deep breath as I try to get my bearings; I really don't need this right now when I already have a fight to deal with. I shake my head to refocus myself when I see a shadow loom over me and start to grow bigger. Oh crap!

I make my tail iron and turn around when there's a loud crash and I'm showered with tiny pieces of rock and stone. What the…

I look up in shock to see Decimal standing over me, his claws just ceasing their glow. Did he...stop the boulder from hitting me? _'What are you doing?'_ I demand.

Decimal glares at me and I swear I see his jaw tense, _'Our fight's not done.'_ he says. _'I won't be satisfied until it is!'_ He opens his mouth and his fangs elongate.

I roll out of the way but his teeth catch my tail, making me grit my teeth in pain. Decimal pulls me up and flings me to the other side of the ruins, making me slam into the wall. I shake the blow off and get to my feet.

We lock eyes, our tails become iron, and we engage in another flurry of fast tail strikes, landing as many hits as we can. However, my energy is really starting to run low. We've been fighting for a while and I'm still not even close to beating him! I'm gonna run out of energy if this keeps up! Just then, Decimal's claw lights up with Brick Break and he catches my tail. And for some reason, it really hurts, making me yelp in pain!

 _'You really should try to remember your typing, Tiny.'_ Decimal says. _'Then maybe next time you'll remember that Fighting trumps Steel every time.'_ He easily pushes my Iron Tail away and hits me right in the middle with Brick Break. I skid across the ground, panting heavily, the pain in my chest apparent.

 _'Tired already?'_ Decimal asks. _'C'mon, I would've thought the pirate who helped take down Mr. 2 would have more power than that; you're not holding back on me are you?'_

I get to my feet, glaring at him, _'Like you have any right to talk.'_ I hiss.

Decimal ran towards me with another Dragon Claw. I activate my Brick Break where I stand, blocking the attack and trying desperately to recover. _'What was that?'_ he asks dangerously. _'You think I'm holding back? Me?'_ He brings up another Dragon Claw. _'Why would I want to hold back?'_ He swipes his other claw but I quickly break my lock with his first claw, and jump out of the way just in time.

 _'I don't know, but I've been in enough fights to know that you have!'_ I accuse. _'You've been holding back a lot, ever since we met!'_ I swing my newly powered tail at him for him to narrowly dodge. _'You spared my life twice and even told me where the bomb was, and just so we could have this rematch?!'_

His words echo in my head. _'We can't have our rematch if you're dead.'_

 _'You said you wanted to have a proper battle; you even brought out a stupid band to boost your strength, and even stopped me from getting crushed, but you're still holding back?!'_ I demand, charging towards him again. _'It's like you're not even trying to win! In fact, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were-!'_

My mind skids to a halt.

 **'I'll always protect you!'**

My mind suddenly flashes white for a split second and I feel like the sun is shining in my eyes. I can see what looks like grass gently waving in the gentle breeze and shadows of trees around me. I blink and I'm back in the temple just in time to see Decimal rushing towards me with another Brick Break.

I yelp as the attack hits me but I recover in the air, readying my own Brick Break. I land a good hit to his back but his tail becomes iron and he knocks me away. I manage to get to my feet as I slide across the ground and pant.

What the heck did I just see? That felt different than any other weird memory flash I've gotten. This one seemed a lot more vivid, like my mind actually brought me to that place. Plus, that voice… it's the same as that voice from earlier. It felt distant...could it be another memory? But what triggered it? And why did it seem to happen when I thought that Decimal was…!

My head throbs and more voices echo through my head for only a moment.

 **'I don't need you taking care of me, I can fight too!'**

 **'Yeah, but I'll always have your back! That's what friend's do, right?'**

 **'...Yeah, you're right!'**

I try to ignore them as I think about what triggered those voices. The word that made me freeze in my tracks. All of a sudden, everything makes sense. Everything Decimal has done since meeting me, it all fits together. I can't believe it...all this time, Decimal was…

 _'You've been protecting me.'_ I say, looking directly at him. _'That's what all this is...you're trying to protect me.'_ Decimal's glare turns icy cold but I continue. _'Maybe when we first met it was our species that kept you from killing me, but after that...it was all about me.'_

I stare at him in shock. _'You could've easily let me get killed by another Baroque Works member...you could've let me and my friends get blown up by that cannon, let someone else do the dirty work...but you always showed up; it was always you I ran into and no one else.'_

My gaze on him hardens. _'That's why you wanted this rematch so badly...you wanted me to be close to you so I would be safe, so none of the rebels, royal soldiers or Baroque goons would kill me! You could care less about what happens to my friends out there, but as long as I'm away from the fighting it will satisfy you!'_

All of the sounds from Luffy and Crocodile's fight gets muted as Decimal and I stare at each other, silence enveloping us. I clench my paws into fists. _'Why?'_ I ask. _'Why would you do all this for me? I thought you were loyal to your Master, why would you…'_

I seriously can't put my finger on it. I feel another tug at the back of my mind but I ignore it again; it's not gonna trigger anything anyway. Why would Decimal do this? Is it something that we Pokémon do? Jeopardize and sacrifice our own safety and loyalty to those we follow just to help our own kind?

No...this runs way deeper, I know it. This is about more than just species, in fact, after our first fight, it's probably never been about species! But that just brings back the big question: why?

I look back at Decimal and notice that he's gone unnaturally still. His head is down and he's not making any effort to move. _'I can't…'_ My ears perk up as I hear him speak softly. _'It's too much…I can't do this anymore...'_ Decimal mutters.

I stare as he actually starts shaking, his eyes hidden. He doesn't move and he doesn't speak; what's going on? _'Uh, h-hey!'_ I call, actually feeling a spark of concern. _'Are you okay?'_ Our relationship is definitely getting really complicated.

Decimal looks up at me for a split second when-

 _'Dragon Claw!'_

The attack is so sudden that I barely manage to move out of the way. Decimal's speed just then...that was so fast I almost didn't see him at all! Before he even touches the ground he burrows underground, leaving a hole behind. It takes me a good minute to realize the danger I'm in, but before I can act, Decimal springs out of the ground.

I yelp and move, but I still feel a hit to my side. I feel intense pain flare up; it's just like when he hit me with Mud Shot back then! I land on the ground, stumbling a bit with a wince and Decimal vanishes underground again. I grit my teeth, turning my senses as high as they will go; if he lands a direct hit on me it's over! And with that Muscle Band increasing the power of his physical attacks, words can't describe how screwed I'll be if he hits!

The ground peaks under me and I leap away just in the nick of time. _'You really should watch that mouth of yours,'_ Decimal hisses. _'Because you've really stepped over the line this time!'_ He dives back underground and I barely manage to escape with a small hit, making me fall when I land.

 _'Maybe that was my plan at first…'_ Decimal continues, diving underground and barely giving me enough time to dodge, _'But you've showed me that I can't afford to be soft anymore!'_ He goes back underground and I struggle to my feet just as the ground begins to lift under me. I move just enough to avoid a direct hit, but once again, not enough to avoid damage.

Decimal hits me a good ways across the floor in the middle of the hallway and I get to my feet, holding my aching side. Decimal fully gets out of the ground, standing across from me. _'You put up a good fight.'_ he says. _'I can't remember the last time I've enjoyed a battle this much...but I'm ending it now.'_ He holds out both his claws and sand starts to slowly surround him. _'I may have been planning to let you live before...but now you've made it clear that I can't spare you again.'_

I stare at him in confusion; what's with the sudden change of heart? What did I say that made him change his mind? The sand around Decimal increases and wind begins to whip up around me as well as the entire area.

 _'This fight is over! Sand Tomb!'_ Decimal thrusts his arms towards me and the sand around him whips up. It creates a kind of mini tornado of sand and shoots towards me, making the sand around us whip up and around as well.

Despite the howling sand hurling towards me, I can somehow hear Decimal mutter under his breath. _'This is it…'_ He whispers to no one. _'This has gone on long enough...I can finally rid myself of this pain…'_ He glares at me, yet his words are carried on the wind he's creating with the Sand Tomb. _'With this victory...I can finally get rid of this burden...of not being able to protect you.'_

And then, as if shot by a bow through the sand, a sentence in my mind hits me like an arrow.

 **'Don't worry; no matter what happens, I'll always protect you, Tiny!'**

That last word echoes in my head like a giant bell. Tiny...Tiny...Tiny...that nickname...why is it…?

My eyes widen as the sunny field reappears. Two figures occupy the field, covered in cuts and bruises and panting heavily as they spar. They're nearly evenly matched as they flip and jump around one another, barraging each other with as many physical attacks as they can.

One is a tiny brown crocodile with beady black eyes, a Sandile; and the other...is a little yellow mouse. It's me.

My breath catches in my throat as the scene and memories from the present click together like pieces to a puzzle. One of the figures in my head appears before my eyes and it's filled by the tiny Sandile from the field. A moment later it begins to glow and change, growing taller until the figure is replaced with...

 _'I remember…'_ My eyes widen and stare at Decimal. _'I know who you are…'_ Decimal doesn't answer and the attack continues, but I stand my ground. _'Your name...isn't Decimal…'_ I can see the Krokorok's eyes widen. The giant gust of sand grows ever closer to me.

' _Your name is...it's…'_ The name finally rolls off my tongue. _'Sandy…'_

Decimal starts and quickly waves his arm. Almost immediately, the Sand Tomb vanishes in a gust of wind, leaving me unharmed.

* * *

 **Congratulations! Your Pika-chan remembered Brick Break! (Yes Pikachu can learn it by TM. I checked.)**


	49. Sacrifice

**LOOK AT THE NEW COVER ART! LOOK AT IT!**

 **Special thanks to 140fox for this drawing! You are amazing!**

* * *

We stare at each other, Decimal looking like he's seen a ghost. _'What…'_ he rasps. _'What did you call me…?'_

I swallow as my mind struggles to catch up. _'S...Sandy…'_ I answer. _'Your name is Sandy…'_ All at once, my memories finally catch up, taking Decimal and inserting him into my mind and supplying me with all my information like a machine.

I know him...I remember him… He's my friend...my...my best friend… Yes! I remember! I remember him! It takes me a moment to realize that I'm smiling with pure happiness and joy. This is really happening! I'm remembering! After so long, I'm finally getting some of my memories back!

 _'Sandy...it's you…'_ I whisper. I don't know why, but...I'm so relieved to see him.

 _'Is it...is it really you?'_ Decimal-no, Sandy says softly. _'Tiny...is that you?'_ I let out a choked laugh; he still remembered that stupid nickname after all this time… _'I can't believe it!'_ Sandy exclaims, a smile finally starting to come to his face. _'It's really you! You're here! You're ali-'_

He's cut off as the temple starts to rumble even more than before. The dropping debris becomes bigger and bigger, forcing us to jump around to avoid being crushed. My ears twitch as I hear a body collapse to the ground; a body that's too light to be Crocodile's.

I turn around to see Luffy on the ground, struggling with all his might to get up. _'Luffy!'_ I exclaim. His whole body is shaking, like his muscles are fighting against him.

 _'The poison must've gotten to him.'_ Sandy says.

 _'Poison?'_ I ask.

 _'Crocodile's hook has poisonous liquid under that gold cover; I'm surprised it took this long for Straw Hat to get hit with it, but if he doesn't watch it, he's a goner.'_

I stare at him in shock. _'How can you be so calm when you say that?!'_ I can't help but demand.

Sandy shrugs, _'You know me; hardly anything fazes me.'_ I can't help but let a smile tug at my face; that's true.

 **'Wow, that was a close one.'**

 **'Don't say that so calmly Sandy! You almost got crushed!'**

 **'But I didn't.'**

 **'But you could have!'**

 **'Calm down Tiny, I'm a ground type, do you think a rock is enough to scare me?'**

 **'I...I guess...just don't do that again; and don't call me Tiny!'**

 **'No promises, Tiny.'**

 **'Stop it!'**

I shake my head; now is not the time for reminiscing! I look back at Crocodile and Luffy and notice that the former seems a bit on edge. "What is this?" he mutters. "I should've heard the explosion by now! The square should be nothing but dust!" Oh yeah, about that...

"I told you…" Luffy grins, looking up from the ground. "None of us will leave Vivi behind or let her die." I can't help but grin back at him; looks like Project Utopia is no longer in business.

I flinch as Crocodile lets out a roar of rage, the shaking of the temple symbolic of his anger. "You've stood in my way for the last time Straw Hat!" He yells. "You may have foiled my plans, but at least I can have the pleasure of watching you die from my poison." My eyes widen as Crocodile turns into sand and starts to disappear.

"Hey! Get back here!" Luffy throws a fist, but Crocodile's already too far gone for him to hit.

 _'Where is he?'_ I ask.

 _'He's still here, I know that much.'_ Sandy answers. _'I can never tell his exact location, but if I time it right-'_

My eyes widen as I suddenly get hit by something large and rough. Hard.

"Pika-chan!"

 _'Tiny!'_

I fly through the air and slam into a nearby stone pillar, leaving a good sized dent. Thanks to my fight with Sandy, that blow really took a lot out of me. I open my eyes to see Crocodile forming over me, glaring down at me with a gaze full of anger with a hint of hysteria. "Now I'll make sure none of your little friends live to see the future of this country, including your precious princess." He steps on me with his massive foot and my eyes widen in fear, "Let's start with the smallest of the bunch, shall we?"

I struggle with all my might but it's no use! I'm too worn out! No, no!

Crocodile raises his hook, poison still seeping out of it. No no no-

I close my eyes as the hook swings towards me.

 _Clang!_

My ears twitch; I know that sound! I look up to see Sandy between me and Crocodile, his tail iron and easily blocking the hook. Crocodile looks very confused at Sandy's actions and it takes me a minute to remind myself that Sandy is Crocodile's most trusted. Well, so much for loyalty.

 _'Now I've got you.'_ Sandy says. _'Mud Shot!'_ The stream of mud shoots from his mouth and hits Crocodile right in the chest, blowing him away from us.

"What is the meaning of this, Decimal?!" Crocodile roars.

 _'I've been wanting to do that for a long time.'_ Sandy says. _'Water and blood aren't the only things that can take you down.'_

That's right! Mud is made of water too! _'Is that why you didn't use it in our fight?'_ I ask, slowly getting to my feet.

Sandy nods, _'When your Devil Fruit power can be trumped by anything with water, my friendly fire really isn't something you want to be hit with.'_ Sandy looks at me, _'So whattaya say, Tiny; your captain's out of commission for now so, how about we tag in?'_

I look at him in confusion, _'But...what about your loyalty? Isn't Crocodile still your Master?'_ I ask.

Sandy looks up in mock thought, _'Hmm, continue fighting for a warlord who's killed and hurt hundreds of people, **or** help my best friend against impossible odds.'_ He smirks down at me. _'What do you think I'm gonna choose?'_ A wide smile spreads across my face.

 **'You'll always have my back, right?'**

 **'Of course! Even if there's a hundred bad guys, I'll always fight with you!'**

 _'Alright; then let's go!'_ I exclaim and we charge towards Crocodile.

"Go get 'em Pika-chan! You too, weird Lizard thing!" Luffy cheers from his spot on the ground.

Both out tails become iron and we slam into Crocodile, making the dent in the wall even bigger. Sandy activates Dragon Claw and sends Crocodile flying to the side and I run after him. I surround myself in white energy and slam right into his middle that's still damp with mud.

I activate Brick Break and Sandy runs up next me, activating his as well and we both land a double hard hit on the warlord. Crocodile lays on the ground, Sandy and I standing before him in triumph.

 _'Nice moves, Tiny.'_ Sandy remarks.

I nod, _'Just like old times.'_

However, our victory is cut short as Crocodile stirs. My ears twitch as he starts to laugh under his breath. What? "Did you really think you two would be enough to stop me?" Crocodile asks, getting to his feet. He places a hand over his middle where the mud is now dry.

Sandy sucks in a breath. _'Oh crap…'_

"I thought you knew Decimal; mud is also made of earth." Our eyes widen as the mud cracks and falls away from his body. "Mud may hinder me for a while, but it eventually becomes just another tool."

Crocodile vanishes in a gust of sand. We look around on high alert; he could be anywhere! Where is he? Where did he-

My thoughts skid to a halt as I hear a sick noise of metal hitting flesh and a choked gasp. I slowly turn around and I feel my heart freeze. Crocodile is right behind Sandy, the hook impaling his chest.

Crocodile grunts in annoyance. "You were always such an annoying pest." He rips his hook out of Sandy, making more red spray the floor. "I'm better off without a traitor in my midst."

Sandy falls to the ground with a sickening thump, red starting to pool around him. I barely recognize my own scream as I run towards him. _'SANDY!'_

I reach him he's twitching and shaking on the ground, his wound pouring blood. _'Oh no...nonononono…'_ My breathing picks up as panic and fear begin to set in. There's no way I can stop the bleeding! The wound goes all the way through! _'Sandy!'_ I exclaim. _'Sandy hang in there! C'mon, get up!'_

I keep calling to him but Sandy's eyes are glazed over and distant. He's still breathing but barely! I feel hot tears sting my eyes and Crocodile's shadow looms over me. "I suppose I'll finish you next." he says, raising his hook. I grit my teeth in fear and anger. There's no way I can run, I'm not leaving Sandy!

Crocodile's hook swings towards me when a rubber foot appears. It lands on the base of the hook and steers it towards the ground. The hook hits the hard floor, the poisonous hook snapping off and flying into the debris, never to be seen again.

Crocodile turns to see Luffy, who's gaze has turned murderous. He glances at Sandy and me before stretching his fist as far back as possible, and with a loud cry, lands a hard punch right to Crocodile's middle. He quickly follows up with a kick to the face, sending Crocodile flying across the floor.

Luffy then jumps, stretches his fist up and pounds Crocodile's head onto the stone ground. He then grabs Crocodile by the front of the shirt and throws him with all his might into a broken stone pillar before jumping out of the way of a large piece of debris.

Crocodile slowly gets to his feet, a small dagger appearing in place of his broken hook. "You're just a two bit nobody that comes from who knows where!" he spits. "You can't beat me! Do you have any idea who I am?!" Crocodile jumps forward and thrusts the dagger at Luffy who easily ducks to avoid it.

"I don't care!" Luffy retorts. "It doesn't matter because I will beat you!" And with that, he kicks Crocodile into the air. Crocodile raises his hand and sends down a giant shock wave of sand, making even more debris fall, thankfully none if it landing near me and Sandy.

Luffy, somehow after avoiding the attack, fills himself with air. He gives himself a few twists and then lets the air out, propelling him into the air. He reels his fist back as Crocodile sends multiple blades of sand towards him.

"GUM GUM…" He nears Crocodile and the blades. "...STORM!"

His fists easily break through the sand weapons and he unleashes an endless barrage of punches onto Crocodile. I watch with a sick sense of satisfaction as Crocodile is completely punched out of the ground and high into the air, leaving a hole of sunlight shining through. However, the sudden shift made even more debris fall. Luffy falls to the ground with a grin, but makes no move to get up.

I debate whether or not to go to him when I spy All Sunday rolling a vial of something across the floor towards the King. I can't quite hear due to the rumbling but I'm pretty sure that's the antidote to the poison.

Knowing that Luffy is taken care of, I turn back to Sandy, _'Hang in there, okay?'_ I say. _'Once Luffy wakes up, we'll be home free!'_

 _'Don't get your hopes up…'_ Sandy says weakly over a cough. _'I'm pretty sure this much blood being outside my body isn't good for anybody.'_

 _'Don't say that!'_ I exclaim. _'We have a doctor, and he's the best there is! He'll fix you-'_

 _'But what about the poison?'_ Sandy asks, cutting me off. _'I'm pretty sure bandages don't get poison out of your bloodstream…'_

 _'He'll find a way!'_ I say sharply. _'I told you, our doctor is one of the best! Stop being so negative, we're gonna get out of this!'_

 _'Whatever you say…'_ Sandy says with a weak grin. _'But just in case we don't-'_

 _'Shut up! We will!'_

 _'Thank you…'_

I start and my ears wilt slightly. _'...What?'_

 _'I spent so long...thinking that I failed you…'_ Sandy says. He places a claw on my head. _'But now...you just being here now...living and breathing...I'm finally free of that guilt...thanks to you…'_

Tears sting my eyes as I grasp his claw in both my paws, a sad smile on my face. I feel a slight tug on the back of my mind as I think of why he thought he failed me, but this is no time to focus on that now. _'No...it's my fault…'_ I say softly. _'If I had just remembered you in the first place none of this…'_

 _'Oh no, you're not allowed to take the blame for me here.'_ Sandy says firmly. _'I chose to follow Crocodile and be his guard dog, and you didn't choose to have your memory wiped; it's nobody's fault, especially not yours.'_

I nod shakily, still grasping Sandy's claw. All of sudden, the shaking becomes more intense.

"Huh? Wa's goin' on?" I turn at the familiar voice and see Luffy sitting up, looking half asleep. That was fast.

The rumbling gets louder still and more and more boulders and stone start raining down on us. Sandy and I glance up at the ceiling to see it shaking like jelly, dangerously close to completely collapsing.

"That doesn't look good…" Luffy says, glancing around and taking in the situation. My eyes widen as the entire ceiling begins to sag down, unable to hold up the weight of the earth any longer. A giant pillar begins to tilt down with it, right towards Sandy and me. I feel Sandy push me out of the way as the pillar comes down with a crash.

 _'NO!'_ I scream, turning back to the pillar. The smoke clears, revealing a figure. _'No way…'_ I breathe.

Sandy is standing under the pillar, holding it aloft, and holding the ceiling along with it, keeping it from crashing down on us. Blood is still coming from his wound from Crocodile, but he's still holding it as high as he can.

 _'Sandy!'_ I cry.

 _'I'm fine…'_ He grunts out. _'But I won't be for long...you guys have to move, now!'_

I nod and look to Luffy, "Pika! Pikachu!" I yell, pointing to the hole Luffy made from his fight. That's the only way to get out of here unscathed.

Luffy nods, understanding my gesture and grabs both the King and All Sunday. Luffy then kicks his leg up towards the hole and manages to plant his foot on the flat ground outside, allowing him and his passengers to safely fly out. I smile in relief but it quickly fades when I hear Sandy grunt in pain.

 _'Sandy!'_ I hurry over to him.

 _'Stay back Tiny!'_ He yells. _'I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!'_

 _'Just a little longer!'_ I urge. _'You can do it!'_ That Muscle Band of his should give him the strength he needs.

The ceiling begins to sag even more, forcing Sandy to his knees. I turn in horror as the other half of the ceiling begins to sag as well, dangerously close to falling. Hurry up Luffy!

I'm forced closer to Sandy as large chunks of the ceiling and nearby pillars start to fall around us, almost creating a kind of alcove around us. I want to break them with my Iron tail or Brick Break, but I don't want to risk disturbing the temple even more.

Luckily, I hear someone land back inside the temple and yell out. "Hey! Pika-chan! Lizard thing! Where are you?!"

Thank Arceus! "Pika!" I yell as loud as I can, leading Luffy to where we are.

"Hold on!" Luffy grunts and goes down to help get the big boulders away from us.

Just then, I feel something hit my back, sending me out from under Sandy and in front of Luffy. I look back and spy Sandy's tail quickly moving back behind him. Luffy looks at Sandy in confusion and they lock eyes. A loud rumbling comes from the temple just as Sandy says something to Luffy. Luffy doesn't respond and simply stares at Sandy. What did he say? And why did he say it to Luffy? Humans can't understand us...

All of a sudden Luffy nods, "I understand." He says solemnly.

My eyes widen as he picks me up and starts to run. "P-Pikachu!" _'W-What are you doing?!'_ I exclaim, starting to struggle against Luffy's grip. _'Luffy, stop! We have to help him!'_

Luffy doesn't answer, his bangs hiding his eyes as he refuses to slow down or look back.

 _'Stop! STOP!'_ I yell, quickly becoming hysterical. _'We can't just leave him there! Luffy, turn back!'_ I squirm and try desperately to escape, but Luffy keeps an iron grip on me. _'NO! Please! Turn around! Sandy! SANDY!'_

I manage to peek over Luffy's shoulder as Sandy gets further away, still holding up the pile of debris. Without stopping, Luffy stretches his arm up, still holding me firmly, and grabs onto the edge of the hole he made.

I continue to scream Sandy's name as Luffy and I fly through the air before bursting into the sunlight of the outside.

* * *

Sandy grinned in relief as Straw Hat and Pika-chan made it out of the ruins. Even with that rubber body, there was no way Straw Hat would be able to get them out in time. Earth was his essence, he knew when it was hopeless. Hell, he knew he was a goner the minute Crocodile stabbed him through the chest. But he didn't feel as scared as he thought he would be; it certainly helped knowing that his best friend was alive and well.

He wanted to smack himself now for not recognizing the mouse sooner, but then again, ever since that day, he had all but convinced himself that he would never see his little buddy again. Those distant memories of the past had all but vanished into his subconscious, but that day still remained fresh in his mind, even now.

Fire...Screaming...Blood...Figures big and small running for their lives...that day had changed Sandy, especially when he found out that his best friend had been taken during the struggle, from right under his nose.

Sandy had searched endlessly, traveling where no Pokémon had gone before until he found the answer he never wanted.

His friend was gone; nowhere to be found, not even a body.

After that, Sandy had all but shut down, but that was when Crocodile came along. Purely by coincidence, of course. The warlord took him under his wing after witnessing his powers and abilities and it was all a blur from there. Just a whole bunch of fighting and, when the situation demanded it, killing.

For a long time, Crocodile and Baroque Works goals were able to fill the void in his heart, numbing him from that crushing guilt his broken promise had left. It helped to be able to give humans their just deserts, considering they were the reason his friend was gone.

But that numbness completely subsided when Pika-chan snuck into Rain Dinners.

At first, he spared the mouse because that was just common courtesy. Pokémon didn't kill mindlessly unless they had a damn good reason, and after what he witnessed all those years ago, he never wanted to see another corpse of his own kind.

He was certain that beating the Pikachu pirate into submission would teach it the lesson it needed, but that damn thing kept coming back to mess with Crocodile's plans along with those damn pirates.

It was bad enough that he knew Crocodile wouldn't spare Pika-chan or a single one of its Masters, but it had to be a _Pikachu_ that he would have to watch die. One that was the spitting image of…

He had shaken the appearance off as a coincidence; just about all Pokémon looked the same and this was no different. He didn't know why he kept projecting the image of his friend onto this particular Pikachu, and mentally berated himself for trying to make him feel that pain again.

His friend was gone; _Tiny_ was gone and nothing would change that.

Helping Pika-chan helped bring back the numb feeling that he was used to, but it also made it ten times harder to ignore. And as the little pirate expressed more and more similarities to his lost friend, the more angry he became.

He thanked Arceus above that fate had stepped in and finally reunited him with his long lost friend before he could give into his pent up anger and guilt. A small part of him still wanted to live, for his friend's sake, but Tiny didn't need him anymore. From what he witnessed from Straw Hat and that blonde guy, his friend was in good hands, no longer needing his protection.

His journey was over. It was finally time.

 _'Looks like I'll get to go out with a bang after all…'_ he said softly. Still not hindered by the weight of the pillar nor the ceiling, he slowly raised his foot. _'Earthquake…'_

He slammed his foot to the ground and a giant fissure appeared in the ground. The ruins shook madly from the sudden shock and every last bit debris was finally shaken loose.

Sandy closed his eyes as rocks rained down upon him, and with a loud crash, the entire temple collapsed, leaving nothing but rock, stone, and dust behind.

* * *

 **I am so sorry...**


	50. Grief

**Alright, get ready guys. If you thought the LAST chapter was depressing, grab a pillow and a blanket because this is gonna be a full blown angst fest. Thank you for riding with us and we hope you enjoy the roller coaster of Pika-chan's grief. (Education points if you can name the stages of grief Pika-chan goes though)**

* * *

I stare at the ruined temple in horror, my body feeling numb. However it only lasts for a second before I wrench myself from Luffy's arms and run back towards the entrance.

"Pika-chan!" Luffy yells.

I run to the entrance and practically throw myself at the rubble blocking the way. I have to get back in there! Sandy's in there! He's dying! He won't make it if we don't hurry!

"Pika-chan, stop!"

I have to save him! I just got him back, I can't lose him again! He's got to be okay! He's got to! I feel bloody rubbery hands grab me and slowly pry me away from the rubble. He can't be dead! He can't be! I know him, he wouldn't give up that easily! He wouldn't...he wouldn't leave me…

"Pika-chan!" Luffy finally gets me away from the rock and turns me around to look at him. His expression makes my struggles cease; his face is completely solemn, his eyes serious, yet sad. "That's enough, Pika-chan." He says, though his expression speaks volumes. But one sentence rings clear and true. _"I'm sorry."_

My eyes slowly blur and I grit my teeth and lower my head. I start to shake as reality slowly washes over me like a rising tide. Sandy's gone...Sandy's...dead. _Dead._

That one word makes me nearly deaf to everything around me as Luffy puts me back down, giving me a final pat in sympathy. I stare at the ground as my whole body seems to go numb. I hear my thoughts flying around in a whirlpool of thought as the image of Sandy stays present in my mind.

My conscience is screaming that it can't be true, that Sandy is still alive down there, but Luffy's expression and silent words constantly put those thoughts down. Unfortunately, that doesn't make it any better. It just keeps hammering in the reality that Sandy's gone.

My best friend...is dead.

A gust of wind blows over me and a flash of white catches my eye. I look to my side to see what looks like a white cloth flapping in the wind. Swallowing the lump in my throat I slowly look behind me to see that the cloth is tied around the base of my tail.

It's Sandy's Muscle Band.

I nearly choke on my breath as I realize that Sandy must've put it on me while I was watching Luffy beat up Crocodile. But that means...he must've known…

I slowly reach out and grab one of the tails of the band. I stare at it with dull eyes as my grip slowly tightens around it, making my paw shake. I clench my jaw and take a deep breath through my grit teeth before letting go of the band.

I slowly walk away from the ruins, my head low, and my eyes hidden from view, Sandy's Muscle Band flapping in the wind behind me.

I don't even realize that it's raining.

* * *

It didn't take long to find the others. Luffy is currently on the King's back, having passed out from exhaustion after the fight. I hang back as the King hands Luffy off to the others before going off with Vivi to settle the rebels and the soldiers.

The moment they leave, the rest of the Straw Hats pass out on the ground, falling asleep instantly, all of them exhausted from the fight. I wordlessly approach them and sit down in the middle of them all. My head remains low as the rain soaks my to the skin, washing away all semblances of dirt and sand.

 _Sand…_

I growl softly under my breath as I can hear a few cheers in the distance along with exclamations of happiness that the war is finally over. My tail slaps the wet concrete in anger; they're cheering for victory? This...this is no victory.

The word gives my mouth a bitter taste almost making me spit. If this is a victory then why is Sandy dead? Why did this stupid war take my best friend from me? I'm shaking and sparks are flying from my cheeks, my paws clenched.

This damn desert country has done nothing but take things from me and kick me while I'm down ever since we got here. We didn't even have to come here.

We just _had_ to help Vivi because the _pretty princess_ couldn't keep herself out of trouble.

Luffy just _had_ to beat up Crocodile because he's super strong.

We just _had_ to get involved in this stupid misunderstanding.

Maybe if the people and Vivi's so-called _friend_ Kohza had cooled their Arceus damned heads and, Arceus forbid, _thought_ for a second or _talked it out_ instead of jumping to conclusions, maybe none of this would've happened!

I clench my paws, still shaking with rage. We got dragged into this country's' mess, and we had to clean it with the blood of my best friend. My eyes become dark and void like.

We should've just let this whole place burn under Crocodile.

"Hey! Over there!" I hear footsteps in the rain.

"Are those…?"

"Yeah! Those are the Straw Hat pirates!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! It's Straw Hat Luffy and Pirate Hunter Zoro!" Marines...of course they would show up now while these lazy bastards are asleep.

"They're all unconscious!"

"Now's our chance! Arrest them, men!"

I hear multiple footsteps running towards us from behind me and I slowly turn around, my angry glare still on my face. The Marines all skid to a halt the minute I do, their confidence now replaced with caution and fear. I slowly get to my feet and face them fully; they should be afraid. They picked the absolute worst time to mess with my crew.

"W-What is that thing?"

"I don't know! A rat?"

"Is it with the Straw Hats?"

I get on all fours and stalk towards them like a female Pyroar who's cubs have been threatened, sparks flying from my cheeks. A loud deep growl comes from my throat as electricity begins to surround me and lightly strike the area between me and the Marines. And thanks to the street being wet, even my tiniest bolts seem threatening.

"W-What is this thing?!" A Marine cries.

"I-I don't know! S-Stay strong men!" They put their hands on their firearms and start towards me. I growl viciously and send out a few warning lightning bolts, causing the Marines to step back. I've lost too much today; you're not taking anything else from me!

"Stand down!"

My ears twitch and everyone stops as Sword Girl steps forward. I snarl and get ready to charge but she doesn't draw her weapon. She stands between me and the Marines, facing the army. "Stand down; that's an order." she says firmly. What?

"But why?" One of the Marines protests. "We may never get another chance like this! With your permission we could capture all the Straw Hat pirates in one fell swoop!"

"Denied!" Sword Girl snaps. "I won't allow you to lay a hand on any of them, is that understood?" My eyes widen; is she really defending us? A Marine, and a high ranking one at that, is actually letting us go?

Sword Girl sends the soldiers a harsh glare and none of them question it any further. "Dispatch your squadrons throughout the city; make sure no innocents were caught in this crossfire." She orders. "And if I find out that any of you arrested one of the Straw Hat pirates, you'll have to answer to me and Captain Smoker personally; understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" The Marines salute and start heading off into the city.

Sword Girl turns around, looking at me and my friends with a still conflicted look on her face. My scowl lightens and I look at her, "Pikachu." _'Thank you.'_ I say with a nod. Sword Girl spares me one last glance before running off with her troops.

I sigh and stare at the wet ground, my anger finally cooling slightly. How could I possibly have thought those things? About Vivi, about Alabasta? I glance behind me, looking at Sandy's band, completely soaked from the rain.

 _'Damn you Sandy…'_ I mutter. _'Arceus damn you...how could you do this to me?'_ I take a shaky breath. _'Damn you **damn you**!'_ My voice grows louder. _'Damn you Sandy! Arceus damn you to **hell**!'_ I pound the ground with my paw.

I crouch low to the ground, still shaking with rage and the building sadness. I almost don't notice when the Royal Soldiers come to collect us and take us to the palace. Guess it's a good thing that we're on good terms with Vivi and the King now.

The soldiers rouse most of the Straw Hats and carry the more injured ones and they lead us to the palace, past all the wounded soldiers and rebels. It isn't long before we all enter the grand building, me trailing behind.

I don't even bother to shake the rain out of my fur.

* * *

We're all brought to our very own room, very spacious with six beds and big windows. The palace doctors all come in shortly after to patch us up, and Chopper joins the healing fray the moment he's able.

I don't say a word to anyone as the doctors and Chopper look me over, and thankfully, they're all too exhausted to notice how quiet I've been, nor the strange band that magically appeared on my tail.

Once everyone's taken care of, the doctor's leave us and everyone falls asleep. Except for me. I slowly walk to the far side of the room and jump onto the windowsill. I sit down and stare at the dark city as rain taps the glass. It's so weird seeing rain here after wandering through this place in muggy dry heat for so long.

...Sandy always hated rain…

I sigh and look behind me at the Muscle Band. I reach behind me and slowly unwrap it from my tail. I hold it and gaze down at it, my tiny fingers rubbing the damp and dirty cloth. I trace the red and blue designs as voices echo in my head once again.

 **'What's that thing, Sandy?'**

 **'It's my dad's Muscle Band.'**

 **'Muscle Band?'**

 **'Yeah! Your physical strength gets boosted when you wear it; it makes my dad even stronger!'**

 **'Wow, cool!'**

 **'Yeah, and one day, when I'm old enough, I'm gonna wear it into battle!'**

 **'Could I wear it?'**

 **'No way! Only the strongest fighters wear it!'**

 **'Aww! But I wanna wear something cool like that!'**

 **'If I catch you wearing it, I will personally hunt you down, Tiny.'**

 **'You don't have the guts.'**

 **'Wanna bet?'**

A smile barely tugs at my face, _'Personally hunt me down, huh?'_ I say softly. _'If you come back I'll give it back to you.'_

Silence greets me as everything around me seems to grow darker.

 _'C'mon Sandy, I know how much you love this thing; come and get it.'_

Silence once again, except for the images playing like an old movie reel.

 **'C'mon Tiny; I've seen Magikarps last longer than you! Step it up!'**

 **'I'm trying! And you're a liar; you hate going near water.'**

 **'...Okay fair enough, but still; you need to up your game...or are you too weak?'**

 **'I am not!'**

 **'Oh really? Prove it,** _ **Tiny**_ **!'**

 **'That's it! You're dead!'**

 **'That's more like it!'**

My forgotten memories of Sandy play on an endless loop in my head making me clutch the band even tighter. All the times we played together, fought, trained, argued...it's all coming back.

 **'Wow Sandy! That was awesome!'**

 **'Of course it was! My dad's one of the best fighters after all!'**

 **'Do you think you could teach me that?'**

 **'...You know what? Since you're my best friend, I'll teach you everything I know.'**

 **'You will?'**

 **'Yeah! Dad's been saying I need a good sparring partner, and you'd be perfect, Tiny!'**

 **'Hey! Don't call me that!'**

 **'I can't help it; it's too fitting for a mouse like you.'**

 **'Sandyyyyyy!'**

One of the figures I had been seeing in my head had finally been filled in. He may have been my enemy, but he was still my friend. My only link to my past...and he was gone.

 **'Hey, Sandy?'**

 **'Yeah?'**

 **'What if there was someone out there that no one could beat, not even you or your dad?'**

 **'What are you talking about? There's no way there's someone like that!'**

 **'But what if?'**

 **'...Then I'd go down fighting with everything I had.'**

 **'But what if they're too strong? What if they fight dirty? What if they…'**

 **'They what?'**

 **'You know…'**

 **'You're acting like the world's gonna end! Lighten up!'**

 **'Sandy!'**

 **'Fine; then I'd make sure I go out with a bang.'**

 **'But you won't right? Cause you won't go out.'**

 **'Course not; then who'd look after my little buddy?'**

Why? Why did he have to die? He had so much to live for! There was so much he could've done! So much, _we_ could've done! We could have become friends again; he could've joined the crew; we could've rekindled the friendship we had! But now...now…

Tears slowly drip from my eyes and land on the band.

All I can do, is sit on the windowsill and watch the rain.

* * *

Sanji yawned and opened his eyes as the first rays of dawn peeked through the windows. He inwardly snorted; even when he wasn't cooking he still had the habit of waking up early. He instinctively reached out with his hand to pet his partner but felt...nothing?

Both his hands felt around the bed for any sign of the mouse, but there was nothing. Sanji slowly sat up, careful not to disturb the others, and glanced around. He knew Pika-chan had come to the palace with them, so where was it?

His answer was given to him as he looked to the far right of the room and spied the mouse, sitting on the windowsill. Sanji frowned; wasn't that where Pika-chan was sitting earlier when they got here?

Sanji quietly got up and made his way over to Pika-chan; he was getting a really bad feeling that something was wrong. "Pika-chan?" Sanji asked softly as he approached the mouse.

Pika-chan didn't respond.

He noticed that the mouse was holding what looked like a strip of white cloth but he didn't pay it much mind. "Hey, are you okay?" Sanji asked, leaning slightly towards it.

No response.

He reached out to pet the mouse, but it moved its head away the moment he brushed its fur. Now that he thought about it, Pika-chan seemed down when they were walking to the palace. Granted, he was half asleep along with the others, but he could tell that Pika-chan wasn't as chipper as usual.

Sanji withdrew his hand, "Do you want to be alone?" He asked. To his slight delight, Pika-chan gave a slow nod, still not looking at him. Sanji fought the urge to not pet the mouse again and stepped back, "Okay...I'll be here if you need me." He said, and headed back to his bed.

Pika-chan didn't move.

* * *

"Pika-chan?" Chopper walked up to the mouse, a plate of food in his hooves. He stepped up onto a chair so he was at Pika-chan's level on the windowsill. Pika-chan didn't even acknowledge the reindeer.

Chopper fidgeted, "Um...I noticed that you haven't eaten at all; do you want something?" He asked, holding the plate to the mouse.

Pika-chan didn't respond.

Chopper frowned in concern, "Uh, okay," he placed the plate next to Pika-chan, "I'll leave it for you, just in case." As he put it down, he noticed the white cloth Pika-chan was holding. He couldn't make out the mouse's expression at all, but he couldn't help but get a sinking feeling of sadness from its body language and silence alone.

"S-Sanji told me that you haven't eaten in awhile." Chopper said, fiddling with his hooves, "You should try to eat, okay? Your injuries won't heal properly without the proper nutrients."

Pika-chan didn't respond.

Chopper bit his lip, "Okay," he said shakily, climbing off the chair. "I'll come check on you later, okay?"

When Chopper came back a few hours later, the plate was still full of food. Only a few small bites had been taken out of the meal.

* * *

Sanji dropped off his bags of groceries in the kitchen along with Usopp. They had decided to set aside a pile of food supplies to bring back to their ship later, and the kitchen was the safest place to keep them away from Luffy.

Usopp headed back to their room to go check on their rubber captain and Sanji walked down the hall, taking some time to simply take in the atmosphere. This would probably be the only time they would be treated like guests in a royal palace, so he decided to make the most of it.

He looked up as he spied Vivi walking down the hallway. "Oh, hello Sanji!" She greeted.

"Good afternoon, my dear." Sanji greeted. "Where are you off to?"

"Just getting some more water for Luffy," She answered. "His fever's finally about to break so I want to make sure it doesn't act up again."

"You're so thoughtful Vivi." Sanji said with a wide smile. Vivi smiled back and the two stood in silence for a minute.

Sanji's grin slightly faded as he took a deep breath. "How's Pika-chan?" He asked.

Vivi shook her head; she was expecting him to ask eventually about the mouse. "It still hasn't moved." she said sadly. "It just keeps staring out the window, holding that band; it won't even move for food anymore."

Sanji sighed and his eyes became downcast; Pika-chan's behavior had been worrying at first, but it was quickly reaching the point where it was starting to really scare him and the others. Even Zoro seemed a bit more tense than usual seeing the mouse in that state.

"It's been three days now…" Sanji said, trying to keep his worry back. If the mouse hadn't been sitting up, they would've thought Pika-chan was vegetative. Everyone had tried at least once to try and get some kind of response, but it always ended in failure.

Sanji frowned, clenching his fists in his pockets. "What the hell could've happened?"

* * *

I stare out the window as me and Luffy are the only ones in the room. I'm grateful for the silence, despite Luffy's occasional snore, but I'm just glad that no one's here to bother me now.

In the quiet of the room, my tears begin to fall once again. I don't bother wiping them away this time; I'm mostly surprised I haven't run out of them by this point.

I take Sandy's band and drape it around the back of my neck like a scarf, letting the worn but smooth material lie against my fur. My tears fall on the windowsill with near silent taps.

Despite the light shining from the sky, the rain is still falling.

* * *

It's almost a welcome change when Luffy finally wakes up. His energy seems to always brighten the place, no matter what mood you're in.

As expected he feels like nothing's happened and freaking out that he missed what he counts as fifteen meals. A woman named Terracotta comes in shortly after, bringing in a huge cart of fruits. It almost makes my hunger come back, cause I guess I technically missed those meals too.

At least now he's awake, so hopefully that means we'll be shipping out soon.

The sooner we get away from this country, the easier it will be to escape these memories.

* * *

"Hey, where's Pika-chan?" Luffy asked, glancing around.

"Over there." Vivi answered. Everyone turned to the window and Luffy followed their gaze. The mouse was still sitting on the windowsill, that strange white cloth now draped around the back of its neck.

"Hey Pika-chan!" Luffy called.

The mouse didn't respond.

Luffy frowned in confusion, "Pika-chan, c'mere!" He called again.

No response.

"Don't bother Luffy, it won't answer any of us, not even the love cook." Zoro said, ignoring the soft growl under Sanji's breath.

"Why not?" Luffy asked, tilting his head.

"We were hoping you could tell us." Nami said. "Ever since we got here, Pika-chan's just been sitting there; it hasn't said a word to us."

"We're really starting to get worried." Vivi continued. "It's hardly eaten or slept the entire time you've been asleep."

"It hasn't eaten?" Luffy asked in shock.

Chopper fiddled with his hooves, "I tried to get it to eat something but it was like I wasn't even there! Not even Sanji could get it to eat!" His eyes started to glass over ever so slightly with tears of worry, causing Vivi to pat his head.

"We have no idea where Pika-chan was while you fought Crocodile." Sanji said. "Do you know?"

"Yeah, it was with me." Luffy answered. Luffy suddenly lowered his head slightly, a foreign expression of sadness coming to his face. "Bring Pika-chan over here; I'll tell you everything."

* * *

I don't move as I hear familiar footsteps approach me. I can tell by the tapping of rubber soles that it's Sanji. "Hey partner." Sanji says softly.

I don't respond.

"Luffy's awake, did you know?" I nod silently, and I feel a bit of hopefulness and relief come off Sanji. Probably because that's the realest response I've given him in a while. I feel his hands start to come down to me to pick me up but I shake them off when they touch me.

"Pika-chan, this has gone on long enough." Sanji says, worry now fully lacing his tone. "We're all worried about you." He places his hand on my head. "If you don't tell us what's wrong, we can't-"

He cuts himself off as I turn to look up at him directly for the first time. His eyes become wide with surprise, most likely because I look awful. My eyes are swollen and puffy and I have bags under my eyes from lack of sleep. I've been looking at this reflection in the window for the past three days, I don't need the others seeing it too.

I wordlessly shake my head and jump off the windowsill. I start to move towards the door at a brisk pace. I just want to be alone.

My ears twitch as I suddenly hear Luffy's arm stretch. I tense as I feel him not grab me, but Sandy's band. I turn around as he yanks it off me and back to himself. My eyes grow wide and angry as I bolt towards him. "Pikachu!" _'Give that back!'_

I jump to tackle him but Luffy holds up his palm in front of me. His hand lands on my middle and he redirects me down to land on his bed on my back. He holds me down and drops Sandy's band onto me. He lets go of me and I quickly reach up and grab it, pulling it close.

"I know it's hard." Luffy says, his voice in that rare serious tone, "But you have to hear this."

I stare at him, his expression saying I didn't have a choice. I look down at the bedsheets but make no move to run away. Everyone's attention is drawn to me and Luffy, all of them curious about what happened.

"Pika-chan met me at this temple place and Crocodile and a few others were there too." Luffy begins. "I fought Crocodile, and Pika-chan fought the lizard."

"You mean Decimal?" Vivi asks.

Luffy nods, "After I beat up Crocodile the temple place was falling apart, but the lizard helped keep it from falling on us; it stayed behind and let us get out before the temple fell apart." Everyone is silent.

"That lizard sacrificed itself to save Pika-chan." Luffy says in a low voice. "It wanted us to protect Pika-chan...that was it's last wish."

My eyes widen in realization. That's what he said back then...back when I couldn't hear him. I start to shake again as my eyes glass over, and I bite my lip. Even in his last moments...he protected me...he gave up his life to save mine… I clutch the band tightly. He protected me...like he always said he would…

"Pika-chan…" I look at Sanji as he puts a hand on my head. He looks at me sincerely, sympathy and understanding all over his expression, almost identical to when I had my meltdown in the desert. "It's okay to cry."

All my emotions bubble up in one huge wave, no longer able to hold back. I lunge forward with a sob, clinging to Sanji's chest and clinging to the dirty band even more. Sanji wraps his arms around me as I begin to cry loudly, tears pouring down my face.

I feel four more pairs of arms wrap around me and Sanji and a small furry body press up next to me, as well as a slightly rough but sympathetic pat from a rough swordsman hand.

 _'You guys...'_

I close my eyes and let it all out, crying for my friend, absorbing the warmth and comfort my friends offered me. The feeling of my crewmates' touch keeps me grounded in reality. I have to move on; for Sandy. We had parted as friends, not enemies; he wouldn't want me to be sad over him, especially since he saved my life so many times.

My sobs finally start to die down and I finally let out a long shaky breath. I sniff and wipe my eyes, curling deeper into the giant embrace. Chopper nuzzles me gently and Zoro's hand is still resting on my head, like a hood of comfort. I feel Nami and Usopp give me pets and strokes as well, adding their sympathy to the mix and I already start to feel better.

Luffy's arms then leave the hug and I see him crouch down next to Sanji so I can see him fully. He reaches into his robe and takes out an apple, most likely saved from that cart Terracotta brought in earlier.

I smile and take it and everyone smiles in return. "Pika pi…" _'Thanks guys…'_

We sit in silence for a few moments until Vivi's breaks it. "We have about an hour until the food is ready." She says, a tearful smile on her face as she kneels down to meet my eyes. "Maybe you should get some rest until then."

That's all I need. I fall asleep right in Sanji's arms, still holding the apple and Sandy's band.

Exactly an hour later, I wake up, Sanji still holding me and sitting on his bed. "Hey partner." Sanji greets. "How do you feel?"

"Pikachu!" I say with a smile. I feel ten times better; who knew power naps could work so well? I realize that Sandy's band is draped around my neck once again but...where's my apple?

Sanji grins and holds it up, "I surprisingly didn't have to guard it from Luffy for a change." He remarks and hands it to me. "Dinner's in a few minutes, so you better eat up now before it's open season."

I laugh slightly and I immediately start eating. I devour the apple in two minutes flat; I never realized how hungry I was! Once I'm done, I take Sandy's band off my neck. I tie it around my tail, and jump onto Sanji's shoulder.

We exit our room and meet everyone else in the hallway, Luffy chomping at the bit for food. As we all head to the banquet hall, I glance out the window at the sun's rays.

I hadn't even noticed that the rain had finally stopped.

* * *

 **'Remember me and smile, for it is better to forget than to remember me and cry.' - Dr Seuss**


	51. Farewells

**Alright, it's finally time to wrap up Alabasta! It's been one exciting and dramatic adventure for our little hero, but it's time to move on! I must admit, I was touched at everyone's reactions to both Sandy and Pika-chan. I felt like I was taking a big risk by doing what I did, but I was glad to see the many positive and emotional reactions to both our Pokémon friends.**

 **Yes, we may have lost a lot, but Pika-chan has gained a lot in turn. Our little pirate can only get stronger from here on out and has tons of friends to help it along the way. So, it's time to say goodbye to Alabasta and move on to newer adventures for our little friend.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Before long, we're all in the dining room, chowing down on Alabastian food. The food tastes great; not as great as Sanji's cooking of course, but for royal food, it's awesome! We all start stuffing our faces, grabbing for anything we can reach.

I gulp down a bowl of soup before starting on a plate of noodles with Chopper. One skill you need as a Straw Hat pirate: be a fast eater. You never know when Luffy's gonna literally inhale everything in sight so you have to eat your fill right away.

Chopper and I slurp up our noodles, but I'm at least taking time to stop, swallow and wash it down; Chopper's trying to down everything in one go! Are you trying to be like Luffy, cause I can tell you now, it's not worth it!

"Easy, you're gonna choke." Sanji warns.

"Pika!" I agree, chewing on some meat.

"There's plenty more!" Vivi reassures, pushing a plate of rice towards us which I immediately dive into.

I let out a snicker when Usopp pours some hot sauce on his food, making Luffy breathe fire when he steals it (Eyelash appears too to join us; where did he come from?) Sanji starts asking some of the chefs about what kind of food we're eating and I quickly run over to grab a giant fish while Luffy's busy stealing from Usopp and Zoro.

Once it's in my possession I rush back over to Sanji and Chopper. I start gnawing on it, beaming inwardly at my victory; Luffy wouldn't risk stealing from me since it would result in either a tail strike from me, a kick from Sanji, or both. Luffy is smarter than normal when it comes to food; never steal from your navigator, doctor, or cook or you'll regret it later on. And since I'm Sanji's partner, I'm home free from food theft as long as I'm near one of them.

The plates just keep coming, each one more delicious than the last. I even found a bottle of ketchup to drink down and smother my fish with! That stuff is Arceus' gift to food and I'm going to beg Sanji to get me my own bottle if I have to!

Just when I'm about finished with my fish I see Chopper's eyes watering and his hoofs going to his throat; crap, is he choking?! I run over to him and start slapping his back, scolding him all the while. "Pika pika!" _'You just had to learn the hard way, didn't you?'_

"We need some water down here!" Sanji calls, noticing Chopper's predicament with me.

Luckily, he manages to swallow thanks to the water and springs right back up. "I'm okay! Where's more food?" he asks. I grab a large plate of crab and lobster legs, saving them from Luffy, and bring them over for us to share. "Yummy!" Chopper cheers.

"Pika!" I say happily and we both start chewing on our crab legs; at least now we won't have to worry about choking.

Before we know it, the food is all gone so Chopper and Usopp decide to start dancing on the table. We all laugh and cheer at their antics; Chopper brought out the chopsticks and everything! Even the soldiers and the king are laughing with us. It's almost scary how contagious our happy-go-lucky attitude is, but I'm not complaining!

Once dinner is done, we're all taken to the royal bath house to wash up. I'm not really one for bathing, and I really don't want to know what kind of stuff my crew will get up to considering that there are five boys and one of them is a total pervert.

Luckily, there's a little fountain right between the boy and girl baths and it's my size! I place Sandy's band on the side, climb into the steaming water and sit down, the water going up to my chin. I sigh in contentment, soaking up the water and the peace and quiet. I stick my head under the small waterfall coming from the small lion head above me and let the heat relax my muscles. After everything, I definitely needed this.

I smile sadly and look at Sandy's band, sitting patiently on the side. _'Don't worry, Sandy…'_ I say softly. _'I'm gonna keep getting stronger; I'll become the strongest of our kind, just like you always wanted. I'll do it for both of us.'_

I clench my paws and smile in determination. From now on, I won't let anyone push me around any more. No matter how many times I get beaten down, I'll always get back up and keep fighting. I'm gonna find out who I am, where I came from, and what happened to my friend and me.

And if I die...I'll be sure to go out with a bang.

* * *

Once the bath is done, we all gather in our room along with Vivi, and Nami tells us that we have to leave tonight. I nod in understanding; the Marines know we're here and if we stay any longer the ship will be in danger. We have to leave while we have a chance to sneak out unnoticed.

I look at Vivi and notice that she looks upset. Oh yeah...if we leave, we'll have to say goodbye…

Just then a soldier enters our room carrying a Transponder Snail, saying that someone is calling us. Someone called Bon... "Never heard of him." Usopp says and we all nod in agreement.

"That's strange." The soldier says. "He insists that you're all good friends."

Sanji gets up and I jump on his shoulder as he picks up the receiver. "Hello old friends! It's me! Bet you never thought to hear from me again!"

Oh Arceus no…

Sanji hangs up the receiver without a word, but the second he does, the snail starts ringing again. "Shut up, you freak!" Sanji yells.

"Pika pika!" I agree.

Luffy stretches his arms and takes the snail from the soldier, picking up the receiver. "So you escaped, Mr. 2." Luffy says. "What do you want?"

"Straw Hat! I'd recognize that voice anywhere!" Mr. 2 says. "Yes I escaped, and I want to keep it that way, so don't call me Mr. 2! If the Marines intercept this call they'll have the location of both me and you!"

"Thanks a lot, jerk!" Chopper snaps. Yeah, really!

"Tell us what you want!" Zoro demands.

"It's not what I want, it's what I have! Your ship!" Mr. 2 answers. Say what?! That creepy ballerina has Merry?!

"I'm gonna kick your butt for saying that!" Usopp yells. "Where are you?!"

"On your ship of course!" Mr. 2 answers.

"I should've kicked him harder!" Sanji growls.

"Pikachu!" _'I'm gonna shock him until his bones are burnt black!'_

"Calm down, now!" Mr. 2 says. "After all we are friends, aren't we?" Don't push your luck, ya freak show. He tells us that he and the Merry are at the upper part of the Sandora river and that he'll be waiting for us there, and then he hangs up without a word.

"Can we trust him?" Sanji asks.

"We did become friends that one time…" Luffy says.

"But that was before we found out he was with Baroque Works." Zoro finishes.

"I guess we have no choice." Chopper says.

"You're right." Sanji says. "But if he tries to trick us, Pika-chan and I will be more than happy to beat the crap out of him again."

"Pika!" I agree with a nod. That creepy ballerina is gonna wish he never messed with us or Merry if he tries anything!

We all start packing when Vivi speaks up, "Hey guys…" She looks at the ground, a conflicted look on her face. "I don't...I don't know what to do." She looks back at us. "If you were me, what would you do?"

My ears wilt slightly; I was afraid this would happen. If I were in her position, I wouldn't know what to do either. Nami says that she can have twelve hours to decide if she wants to come with us, relaying the location we'll be at.

After that, we all bid farewell, climb out the window and meet the Duck Squadron outside. It doesn't take long for Alabarna to become a speck in the distance as we ride across the desert.

"Hey, Nami what's wrong?" Chopper asks after a while. We all look to see that Nami looks pretty down. Aw, does she miss Vivi already? The two had become pretty good friends after all…

"Nami, if you're thinking about Vivi again I understand." Sanji says. "Moping around won't help; I know this must be hard for you, you two had gotten close, but keep your chin up, okay?" Wow Sanji, that was actually very mature and profound of you! And you kept a serious tone with Nami of all people; color me impressed!

"It's not that." Nami sighs. "I'm just sad that we didn't get out one billion berri reward."

We all nearly fall off our ducks in shock; except Usopp, he completely fell off.

"You're moping about the money?!" Sanji exclaims. Color me _not_ impressed with you, Nami! I expected better from you!

"Guys, Usopp fell down!" Chopper yells.

"You shouldn't mislead people like that, Nami!" Zoro yells.

"What did you think I was upset about? We just walked away from a huge payday that we actually earned!" Nami retorts. Figures; once a cat burglar, always a cat burglar.

"Guys! Usopp fell!" Chopper repeats more frantically.

"That's his problem!" Nami scoffs.

"BUT YOU CAUSED IT!"

"PIKA PIKACHU!"

* * *

After picking up Usopp, we all eventually made it to where Mr. 2 said, and sure enough, he's there along with the Merry. "Finally, there you are!" Mr. 2 calls. "Good to see you all again, did you miss me?"

"Not a bit." Zoro answers instantly. Understatement of the year. We bid farewell to the Duck Squadron and start to unload.

"Hold on!" Mr. 2 suddenly exclaims, jumping from the Crow's nest to the railing.

"Yeah, what?" Sanji asks.

"Don't 'yeah, what' me! Friends aren't supposed to talk to their friends that way!" Mr. 2 snaps.

"Stop saying that, we're not friends, we're enemies! You lied to us!" Luffy retorts.

"No I didn't!" Mr. 2 protests. "I just didn't mention that I was with Baroque Works!" That still falls under the category of deception, you jerk! "Besides, Baroque Works is done for, so we're no longer enemies!" Okay, fair point. I unconsciously glance at the band on my tail.

"Then why did you steal our ship?!" Luffy demands, making me perk up. Really Luffy? I think even Zoro figured that out.

"How dumb are you?" Mr. 2 exclaims. "If I hadn't taken your ship what do you think would've happened?!"

All together now… "The Marines probably would've seized it." Nami says.

"Make that a definitely, honey!" Mr. 2 says. "The Marines have been looking all over for you guys! Every dock has been blockaded!"

"Are you saying you took our ship so the Marines wouldn't?" Luffy asks. It's not that hard to figure out, guys.

"How come?" Chopper asks.

"Because you guys are my friends." Mr. 2 says with a big smile. That's all it takes to win Luffy, Usopp and Chopper over.

We finish loading the ship and that's when Zoro points out that Mr. 2 most likely needs us as allies in order for his ship to get through the blockade. Should've figured there was some kind of ulterior motive. I suddenly let out a yawn as I sit on the deck. I never realized how tired I was!

"You should get some sleep." I look to see Sanji looking down at me. "You hardly slept for three days; we'll take care of the ship, you go rest."

I would usually argue, but I'm honestly too tired to. I nod and head towards the cabin; I'll let you baby me now, but I expect independance afterwards. I climb down into the cabin, curl up on Sanji's hammock and fall asleep the instant I lie down.

* * *

Today has to be the most hectic day ever, and that's saying a lot coming from a pirate. I slept through the whole night, but I was awoken by cannon fire. Obviously the Marines had found us.

I run out onto the main deck and my eyes widen at the sight. We're surrounded by eight Marine ships and they're decimating us! It takes me a few minutes to take in the situation Normally, Luffy would just reflect their cannonballs, but they aren't shooting cannonballs, they're shooting long iron spears! And with all of them surrounding us, we all only have enough people to protect one side while the other side gets skewered!

Usopp and Chopper are below deck trying to plug up the holes but it was only a matter of time before there was nothing left to plug. I leap into action and try firing a few lightning bolts, but they're too far away, I can only hit a few people; if I was closer I'd be able to take down more!

Thankfully, Usopp manages to take down a pair of ships towards the south with the cannon, creating an opening. Mr. 2 tells us that we have to hurry and get through if we want to escape, especially since there's a Marine captain named Hina on the way towards us.

"If you want to go, then go; we can't go that way." Luffy says. My ears perk up; that's right, we have to meet Vivi, we can't leave now!

Nami nods, "We have appointment at noon at the Eastern harbor; there's no time to go around, we'll go straight through."

"What?! Suicide!" Mr. 2 yells. "What's there that's so worth throwing your lives away?!"

"We need to go get one of our friends." Luffy answers, and Mr. 2 freezes.

"So, it's for your pal that you risk it all?" He asks softly. I think that goes without saying. "Listen up, everyone!" Mr. 2 suddenly announces. "I have a plan, but we'll need to be quick about it." He faces us. "Listen closely Straw Hat. Stay put for three minutes exactly; when those three minutes pass, sail to the East as fast as you can, got it?"

Luffy frowns in confusion, "Uh, okay, but why?"

"Just leave the rest to me." Mr. 2 says. "In the meantime, all of you get out of sight until the right time." We all do what he says and hide below deck. Mr. 2's ship chugs away from ours and the Marines shortly follow.

We watch in amazement as the formation breaks and follows Mr. 2's ship. Once three minutes are up, we start moving at top speed like Mr. 2 said. We're completely in the clear! We can make it to Vivi! We all look in horror to see the Marines attack Mr. 2's ship, with both iron spears and cannons. It isn't long before the swan shaped ship is nearly destroyed.

I can't help but turn away and cover my ears as screams and explosions ring through the air. I can't bear to listen one of our friends go through that for us. Heh, it's weird...I never thought I would actually be able to call that creepy ballerina our friend.

Once we reach the other Marine ships, anger courses through my veins. Sandy's Muscle Band flaps in the wind on my tail. I'm ready to fight! I leap into the fray with Luffy, Zoro and Sanji and don't hold anything back. I break bones with my Iron Tail and Brick Break, I burn countless Marines with lightning, I fight more viciously than I ever had. I was almost disappointed when the fight was over and we sailed towards our meeting place.

But when we get there… _'Where is she?'_ Vivi is nowhere but we can hear her voice…

"They're broadcasting the ceremony in Alabarna." Sanji says. "Looks like Vivi's already made up her mind not to come here."

"No." Luffy says. "I don't buy it; I say she's here." Stubborn as always. "This is the place, right?"

"Yeah, and she's not here." Zoro says.

"Let's go, it's already past noon." Sanji says.

"But there's no way she shouldn't be here!" Luffy protests. "Let's go out and look for her!"

"Bad news guys!" Usopp warns. "The Marines are after us again!"

"How many ships?" Zoro asks.

"I count about six." Usopp answers. Oh great, why do Marines have to be as stubborn as Luffy?

"Give it up, Luffy." Sanji says. "Vivi's path is a course that's way different from ours." My ears droop; he's right. Vivi's a princess, she's royalty, she has her whole country to care for after all. We all begin to sail away when suddenly...

"Everyone!"

My ears twitch; I know that voice! I turn towards the sound and leap onto the railing on the rear of the ship. My eyes widen and a smile comes to my face; Vivi and Carue are standing on the edge of the harbor! She's here! She made it! "Pika pi!" I call. "Pika pikachu!"

Everyone gathers on the back of the ship with me. "See? I told you she'd come!" Luffy says happily.

"We need to hurry and turn around!" Usopp says, running to get the rudder.

"And the Marines are right behind us too!" Chopper exclaims, waving from the railing. Yeah, she really cut it close!

Vivi gives us a big smile, and I'm so happy that I almost don't hear her next words. "I've come to say goodbye."

My smile fades, as well as everyone else's. She speaks into her Transponder Snail to us. "I'm sorry, but I can't go with you." she says. "Thank you so much for everything." My ears droop sadly. She isn't coming? "I'd love to go on more adventures, but I can't ignore the needs of my country, which I love more than anything!"

I can't help but let a sad smile come to my face. Spoken like a true princess.

"I hope you understand." Vivi says.

Luffy grins, "I see."

Vivi thanks us once more time and I can barely see tears coming to her eyes. "If we ever meet again...no matter how much time has passed...will you still call me friend?"

My heart nearly breaks; how could she possibly think we wouldn't call her our friend? Luffy almost responds but Nami stops him. The Marines heard Vivi call us her friends; we can't respond or it'll be all over for her.

"Turn away." Nami orders. "Not a word."

I turn but remain on the railing, my head down. I'm definitely going to miss that girl; Carue too. I glance at the others and my bandaged arm twitches. I brighten as the thought crosses my mind; we don't have to say anything to prove we're friends.

At the same time, we all reveal the X mark we placed on our left arm; the mark that proves that we're friends, no matter what happens.

The Marines start firing at us, their shots raining sea water down and drenching us. I smile broadly as we stay in the same place unflinching. It's time for us to go. I turn around as everyone starts to help with the ship, staring at the shrinking country of Alabasta when a shiver runs down my spine.

A gust of wind blows, making the band on my tail flap. I stare at the desert country and I swear I see a tall figure with muddy brown scales staring at me from the shore. His arms are crossed and he's giving me a confident smile. He gives me a nod before disappearing in a gust of sand. I stare at the spot he just occupied and smile, before nodding.

I spare Vivi and Carue one last glance and a small salute before heading back to join the others. "Set sail!" Luffy yells.

I jump onto the Merry's head, facing the open sea; who knows what adventures and friends await us next.

* * *

 **Alright, the transition into Jaya is going to be a tad different. Why? Because next chapter is MOVIE TIME!**

 **It's been a while since the last movie and I hope you're all looking forward to Pika-chan's adventure through Movie 3!**

 **ALSO! I finally posted that filler story I promised! It's called 'Perks of the Smallest' so check it out if you haven't already!**


	52. Island of Strange Animals

**Alrighty, it's time for OP Movie 3: Chopper's Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals!**

 **I'll admit, this movie for me was okay, I just found it...underwhelming. I don't know, maybe I was expecting more since it was a Chopper-based movie. Maybe if Chopper did a little more fighting or got the honor of landing the finishing blow I'd like it a little more, but other than that, I liked this movie just fine. Not my favorite, but not my least favorite. And I GREATLY enjoyed putting Pika-chan into this!**

 **Oh yeah, and get ready, cause the Chopper & Pika-chan Nakamaship is gonna be chugging full speed ahead in this movie! Enjoy!**

* * *

Treasure is something that I consider a double edged sword.

The upside is that it's treasure and you get rich off it. But the downside is that you have to go through a ton of trouble just to get your hands on it. And with our luck, the kind of trouble we have to go through is, in my opinion, not worth it.

Unfortunately, with a navigator like Nami on your crew, you have to get treasure no matter how many flaming hoops you have to jump through. Flaming hoops while covered in oil; over a giant pool of Sharpedo; balancing on a tightrope; in space.

This time, Nami's got her eyes on a treasure known as the Crowning Treasure (original name, I know.) which is on an island called Crown Island; figures. She found a map to it in Alabasta's royal library and it turns out the island isn't too out of the way.

Of course, everyone seems fine with going except for a certain reindeer. "Uh...can we not go?" He asks meekly.

"Why not?" Sanji asks.

"There's treasure right there waiting for us." Nami agrees. "We can't pass up an opportunity like this!"

"B-But what if there are big scary pirates looking for it too?!" Chopper exclaims.

"You're a pirate too, you know." Luffy points out.

"Oh yeah…"

"Pika pi pikachu." _'And you're a great fighter! You can take out big scary pirates in your sleep!'_ I say.

"Shut up! Complimenting me won't make me happy, you bastard!" Chopper says, wiggling happily. Guess I made it through the barrier again. I think we may be making some real progress. "But-But what if someone got hurt?" Chopper asks, quickly breaking out of his happy dance.

"If that happens, we have a doctor." Usopp says, waving his hand.

"Y-Yeah, but-"

"This just proves how new you still are to this." Usopp says. "You're a pirate now so you have to be ready; you never know what kind of monsters you may face."

"M-Monsters?!" Chopper exclaims. Oh boy, here we go…

I sweep my tail under Usopp, making him fall on his back; quit scaring the reindeer already! I pat Chopper's back, "Pikachu, pika pika." _'Relax, even if there are monsters, we can take them out.'_

Chopper smiles a bit uneasily, "But...but-"

"You've got to man up, Chopper." Zoro suddenly speaks up. "If you get scared this easily then you're not fit to be a pirate." Leave it Zoro for brutal honesty.

I shoot him a small glare and Chopper tenses up. "I-I'm not afraid!" He protests. "When the going gets tough I'll always fight with you guys!"

"Big words, considering when the going _does_ get tough you make a run for it." Sanji remarks making Chopper freeze. Guys, you're not helping!

"I'm a full fledged pirate!" Chopper says with resolve. "I-I won't run away! I won't!"

I smile at him; that's the spirit! "Pika, pika pikachu!" _'Don't worry, you'll have your chance to shine, then you'll show 'em!'_

Chopper stares at me for a minute; guess that was a bit lost in translation, but he eventually breaks into another smile, "Shut up already! I can't take it anymore you bastard!" Well, he either got the important part or caught on that I was complimenting him; either works for me.

All of a sudden, we hear rumbling outside, making the boat shake. We all run outside and Luffy's eyes widen with delight, "Hey! An island!" Uh, that's not all! We look as multiple spouts of water shoot up in a row and of course, one erupts right under us. We all scream and grab onto something as the ship is launched into the air. Chopper and I grab onto the front railing right next to each other as the water spouts quickly become pillars of steam.

"Look, down there!" Nami exclaims, pointing to the island.

"The smoke is forming a ring!" Zoro observes. We all look as all the steam forms a perfect circle around the island, making it look like a crown.

"There's no doubt about it!" Nami says, her eyes big and happy.

"It's Crown Island!" Luffy crows.

And we had to get shot into the air by a geyser in order to figure that out; flaming hoops in space, I tell you.

The ship flies over a good portion of the island giving us a good look at it. It's very lush and full of plant life, not a sign of civilization in sight. It's really pretty to look at; nature really outdid itself here. "Wooow!" Luffy exclaims. "This island sure is pretty!"

"Now's really not the time to be enjoying the view!" Zoro retorts.

"Why not?" Luffy asks.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that we're _hundreds of feet in the air and running out of air time!_

We all cry out as the ship begins to drop, but it's so sudden that Chopper loses his grip. "Pika!" _'Chopper'_ I cry out in alarm. I try to reach out and grab his hoof, but I reach too far and I fly into the air too.

"Pika-chan!" I hear Sanji yell my name. I hit the Crow's Nest and I feel myself smack into Chopper as I can only see sky. I grab onto the closest thing which just happens to be Chopper's backpack while Chopper grabs our flag.

I cry out as Chopper holds onto the Jolly Roger for dear life, but it's not strong enough to support both of us combined with gravity. I don't dare let go of Chopper as the fabric tears, sending us both into the air.

"Chopper! Pika-chan!" Luffy tries to reach out and grab us, but we're flying too fast. Chopper holds onto me tightly as we soar through the air before we feel the impact of tree branches. We cry out and grunt as he topples through the trees and onto slanted ground where we begin rolling.

"H-Hold on Pika-chan!" Chopper cries, his voice shaky from the rolling. I squeak and cling to him as we both roll down the hill. We roll for what feels like forever until our worst fear comes true; the ground disappears.

Tears fly from Chopper's eyes as we fall down a cliff. The wind forces me to swing around and hold onto the back of Chopper's neck and we safely land. Well...I safely land. A nice pointy rock decides to break Chopper's fall, causing him to transform with a yell of pain and discomfort.

I drop off of him and shove him off the rock and he transforms back to normal. I hold my paws out as he staggers on his feet, his face screwed up with pain. "Pika? Pikachu?" _'You okay?'_

Chopper swallows and regains his footing. "I...I think I'm okay…" he squeaks softly.

His eyes widen as he looks behind me. I follow his gaze and my expression matches his. We're surrounded by animal looking creatures and they're...cheering? I pick up multiple phrases.

"The New Animal King has arrived!"

"He fell from the sky just like they said!" Animal King…? Were they talking about Chopper?

"And look! The Heavens even sent a brave guardian with him!"

"It's small but I bet it's very strong!" Guardian? Are they talking to me? What the hell is going on?

"Animal King?" Chopper asks looking at me questionably.

I shrug, "Pika pika…"

A young boy wearing a grass skirt suddenly steps through the crowd, approaching us excitedly. "Amazing! You can speak Human!" he exclaims. He begins to jump happily. "The Animal King can speak Human!"

"Who's the Animal King?" Chopper asks, getting a bit impatient. I am too, to be honest.

The boy laughs. "Don't be silly; _you're_ the Animal King!" he points to Chopper.

A strange bird with glasses comes up next to him. "So the legends were true!" he exclaims. "You are our new Animal King, and you even brought a brave guardian with you!"

Both our jaws hit the floor. "SAY WHAT?!"

Before we can question anything or tell the animals that there's been some mistake, we're both swept away by the crowd of excited animals. The next thing we know, there's a huge feast of fruits set out before us and we're wearing new clothes.

"Where did these clothes come from?" Chopper asks.

"Pika…" I agree.

Chopper is wearing a small white dress shirt with a purple sweater over it, complete with a big red bow tie and blue puffy pants, along with a small crown that's been placed on his hat. The only thing that stands out is the torn piece of our Jolly Roger which he's wearing as a cape.

I'm wearing some kind of blue vest with a weird white hat that covers both my ears, but tilts to the side on my head slightly. I think Nami said these things are called berets or something. I'm also wearing a small gold medallion around my neck, along with two bracelets made of white flowers adorning both of my arms. These definitely don't look like clothes that are native to this animal run island.

"It's not important." The boy shakes his head. "You're our new King!"

"But why am I the King?" Chopper asks. Yeah, and why am I the guardian for that matter?

"Because you fell from the sky, with your brave guardian watching over you!" The boy answers.

Chopper looks at me and we both start to walk away, "I'm sorry, but we can't stay here." Chopper says.

"Huh? Why not?" The boy asks. "Where are you going?"

"Home," Chopper answers. "We have to get back to our ship."

"Pika." I confirm with a nod.

"You can't go!" The boy protests, grabbing Chopper's shoulder, "If you leave then who will protect the island? You're our King-"

"I'm not a King, I'm Tony Tony Chopper!" Chopper exclaims. "And Pika-chan isn't my guardian, it's my friend!"

"So your names are Chopper and Pika-chan?" The boy asks. "Those are nice names; my name's Mobambi!" That's certainly and interesting name, considering he's a human living with a bunch of animals.

"Really?" Chopper lightly blushes. "You think my name is nice? The greatest doctor in the world gave me that name." Uh-oh, Mobambi found Chopper's weak spot.

"Really? Then are you a doctor too?" Mobambi asks. Chopper wordlessly nods, his blush becoming deeper. "That's great!" Mobambi continues. "You're a King and a doctor? A lot of our friends are actually injured right now; you really are amazing!"

Chopper turns away, his eyes downcast and bashful, "You...You really think so?"

"Of course!" Mobambi says. "When the going gets tough, you'll be a great help to us!" Oh man kid, if you keep this up, the poor thing may explode!

"I'm not that great…" Chopper says, pinching his cheek, probably in a last minute attempt to stay humble.

"I bet you're really brave and strong too! Our new King is the best!" Mobambi gushes and the dam finally bursts.

Chopper transforms into Heavy Point and smashes a nearby boulder before shrinking back to Brain Point and starting his happy dance. "You can praise me all you want but it won't make me happy you asshole!"

"Really? You _look_ happy…" Mobambi says with a confused frown, but I wave my paw.

"Pikachu…" _'Just let him have his moment; he always gets like this when he gets complimented.'_

Just then, the weird bird with glasses speaks up, "Alright, in tradition of welcoming our new Animal King, let's hear his Coronation Speech!"

"Wha-?" Chopper's face becomes drawn with fear. Oh man, we're in for it now! Chopper shoots me a nervous glance but I shrug helplessly; you're the king, make something up! "W-Wait a minute!" Chopper holds up his hooves and backs up. "I already told you I can't-"

Chopper's cut off as he steps on another pointy rock. Chopper lets out a loud screech of pain, making me cover my ears, and he falls over, causing me to hurry over to him.

"Did you hear? He announced Ou! You really will be our King, won't you!" Mobambi exclaims. What? You mean when he screamed in pain? Hold on...is that why they thought he was the king in the first place?! They mistook a scream for saying that he'll be King?!

"What a marvelous Coronation Speech!" The bird with glasses agrees and the animals start cheering.

I grimace as tears of pain fall from Chopper's eyes; we've really dug ourselves into deep trouble this time.

* * *

After everyone's calmed down, we ask Mobambi to show us the injured animals he was talking about earlier. I wanted to get back to the others, but Chopper insisted on at least treating the injured. I had to agree with him; it's his job as a doctor to heal those who are injured.

I help him gather the herbs and mix the ingredients and we light a fire too. Chopper burns a few herbs to help make the medicine while I help grind them into medicinal powder and soon, all the animals are treated, wrapped in bandages.

"You'll be able to run again in no time." Chopper says as he finishes treating the last of the animals. I have to wonder, what caused these animals to be hurt so badly? They all sported nasty bruises, cuts, and even a few sprained limbs. All the injuries were similar, so was something going around and beating up these animals?

"You're amazing, Chopper! Everyone's so happy!" Mobambi exclaims. "We're so glad to have you as our King! With you and your guardian around, we won't have to worry about anything!"

Chopper and I share a slightly guilty glance and face Mobambi, "I'm sorry, but we can't stay here; I can only be king while we're on this island." Chopper says.

"Pikachu." I say.

"Why?" Mobambi asks.

"We have to get back to our friends, to our pirate ship." Chopper answers.

"Pika." I agree with a nod; the others are probably worried about us.

"Pirate ship?" Mobambi exclaims. "You mean your friends are...pirates?" I glance up at Mobambi suddenly; I'm getting a big spike of anger from him.

"Yeah!" Chopper says with a nod. "It's kind of funny; you're a human but you live with animals. I'm a reindeer and Pika-chan's a mouse, but we travel with humans." Mobambi is shaking now and gritting his teeth; he really doesn't look happy. "I wonder what they're doing?" Chopper wonders. "They should've seen the smoke by now to look for us."

"Forget about them!" Mobambi suddenly snaps, throwing dirt over the fire and putting it out.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Chopper demands.

"You have to stay, you're our King!" Mobambi exclaims. "Quit being a pirate and live here with us; we'll be your friends from now on!"

Chopper and I are taken aback by the sudden outburst, but I have a pretty good feeling where this is coming from, and Chopper does too. "Mobambi...do you hate pirates?" He asks carefully.

The look on his face gives us the answer we need. "My papa...was killed by a pirate."

Mobambi takes us to the base of the mountain where ruined remains of a ship are sitting. By the looks of things, it's only been here for a few years. Apparently, Mobambi's dad was a zoologist, coming to the island to study the animals. However, a pirate attacked his ship, killed his dad, and injured him, giving him that scar on his chest. Mobambi then washed ashore here, and the previous Animal King took him in and raised him.

I glance at Chopper as he finishes the story; it sounds eerily like his own backstory with Doctor Hiruluk. Chopper was shunned and nearly killed by humans, giving him a fear of them, with the exception of Doctorine. And because Mobambi's dad was killed by a pirate, he now hates all pirates, with the exception of me and Chopper.

"Mobambi…" Chopper touches the boy's shoulder, "Our friends are good pirates, they won't hurt you."

Mobambi jerks away from Chopper's touch and turns on us, "How the hell can there be a _good_ pirate?!" He demands.

"No really, they're good people!" Chopper says, trying to resolve Mobambi's anger. "I'm sure once you meet them you'll see-"

"No way!" Mobambi snaps. "Pirates are nothing but murderers! You can't trust them!"

"Mobambi…"

"You can't stay with them Chopper; you too Pika-chan!" Mobambi turns to us. "Besides, you both are animals, right? It's best if you guys stay here with your fellow animals!"

Chopper and I tense at the remark and look at each other. I can see conflict in Chopper's eyes and I don't blame him. This is an island full of animals like himself, animals that accept him for who he is. He's never been accepted by any other animal with the exception of me and Carue.

But for me, it's a totally different story. I may not be human, but I'm not an animal. If Sandy's words were anything to go by, I'm a Pokémon, a creature, not an animal. But on the other hand, the animals here don't seem to mind. They're all surprisingly accepting and kind of those different from them as long as they don't show any ill-will. If they were willing to take Mobambi in, why not us?

However, before we can think on it, a loud honking comes from a distance. "Pika?" I ask, not understanding the sound, but Chopper and Mobambi tense.

"Something's wrong!" Mobambi exclaims.

Chopper and Mobambi take off but Chopper nearly stumbles in his haste making something drop from his person. I quickly pick it up; it's a Rumble Ball. That's right; Chopper must always have a few on his person just in case. I slip the medicine into my vest pocket and run after Chopper and Mobambi.

We hurry back up the mountain where a strange pig-like animal is honking frantically. It looks terrified! We all surround the pig, getting it to calm down and it honks rapidly. According to Mobambi, there are humans on the island that are manipulating animals called Horn Eaters to attack the other animals on the island. That must be why so many of them were injured before! What jerks would go around terrorizing innocent animals like that?

The other animals start to panic, calling out and stomping their feet, but Mobambi stops them. "It's alright everyone!" He says loudly. "We have a new King and his guardian to help us! They'll get rid of those bad guys in no time!"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Chopper screeches, backing away in fear. "What if they're dangerous?! There's no way I can fight them!" Chopper, that's really not what you want to say to the creatures who think you're their king.

"You mean...you won't help us?" Mobambi asks, making Chopper freeze.

"I...I-I want to help but-"

"Mobambi!" We look up as the bird with glasses flies towards us. "We've got trouble! Humans are headed this way!" We all look down the mountain and sure enough, rumbling can be heard in the distance as well as dust and dirt being kicked up. Something's coming, and something fast!

"That must be them!" Mobambi says fearfully. "Chopper! Pika-chan! Please say you'll help us!"

Chopper grits his teeth and looks at the ground. I quickly step up next to him and touch his arm. "Pikachu." _'It'll be okay.'_ I say, making him look down at me. I smirk and clench my paw, "Pika pikachu!" _'We'll take them on, together!'_

Chopper stares at me before swallowing and nodding. "I...I won't run!" He says firmly, staring at the incoming intruders. "'Cause when the going gets tough...I'll always fight!" That's the spirit!

I nod and get on all fours next to Chopper while the rest of the animals back away. The two of us stand, ready to fight, but I can tell Chopper's still fighting some inner fear. Well, it's definitely not helping that Mobambi and Glasses Bird are talking about how these guys are probably here to slaughter and devour us for our fur.

 _'Stay strong Chopper…'_ I mentally send him that same mantra as the cloud gets closer and closer, making no move to slow down. All of a sudden, something big and green emerges right in front of us, causing Chopper to turn and run and blowing me away in the same direction.

I land next to Chopper behind a big boulder and I look to see a big green bird collapse to the ground in exhaustion. The fall sends its passenger flying right towards us; a familiar boy with a red vest and a straw hat.

It takes Chopper a good minute to realize who's in front of us. "Luffy!" He exclaims.

"Pika!"

"Hey! Chopper! Pika-chan!" Luffy exclaims. We look behind him to see the others getting off a few other animals.

"Chopper! Pika-chan!" Nami exclaims.

"You guys are okay!" Usopp says happily.

"Pika!" I exclaims, running up to Sanji.

"Hey partner!" Sanji says giving me a hug. "What's with the outfit?" He asks, noting the attire of me and Chopper.

I rub the back of my head and giggle, "Pikachu…" _'It's a long story…'_

"You guys came for us!" Chopper exclaims.

"Course we did; you had us worried." Zoro remarks. Aw, I always knew you were a big softie, Zoro!

"What are you doing?!" Mobambi yells, making Chopper and I cut our celebration short. "Hurry and exterminate the enemy, your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty?!" The Straw Hats all repeat in shock.

"Wait…" Usopp steps towards us, looking specifically at Chopper. "Don't tell me that-"

"That's right! Chopper is our King!" Mobambi exclaims. "And Pika-chan is his brave guardian!"

"Be afraid, humans!" Glasses Bird agrees. "Soon you'll be crushed at the hands of our great King and his guardian!"

"Chopper is the Animal King?" Sanji asks.

"And Pika-chan is his guardian?" Nami adds, just as confused; I did say it was a long story.

"Oh yeah, Chopper; have you heard of this thing?" Luffy says out of nowhere, holding up a rock with a crude sketch drawn on it. "They say that it's got hundreds of horns and is made up of bears and lions and-"

"That's supposed to be Chopper, you idiot!" Nami yells, cutting him off.

"Whaaaaaa?!" Luffy exclaims dropping the rock. "That's so coooool! Chopper, since when were you that awesome?!"

Sanji gives him a sharp kick to the head, "Weren't you listening at all, moron?!"

Okay, now's probably a good time to straighten everything out. I look at Chopper and he turns to the animals. "It's alright everyone!" He announces. "There's nothing to worry about; Pika-chan and I know these humans! They're our friends!"

"Pikachu!" I chime in with an approving nod.

The animals all take a few steps back in shock. "Y-You mean...these are the pirates you travel with?" Mobambi asks.

"Yep!" Chopper says with a nod. My smile turns uneasy as Mobambi scowls at the response. Something tells me that he isn't going to get along with them well.

Suddenly, there's a soft rumbling sound. Everyone turns to Luffy who's slumped over his rock, "Man, I'm starving!" He whines. What else is new? "Chopper, is there anything to eat around here?"

Chopper lights up, "Sure; we'll go get something! Right, Pika-chan?"

"Chu!" I agree.

"Awesome!" Luffy exclaims, springing up and we lead our friends off. May as well feed the captain before he does something he regrets. And ironically, this is usually what kings do when meeting with friends, right? Feed them?

We lead the others to a dining-like area where a large flat stone acts as a table. Chopper and I gather up as many fruits as we can with the help of a few other animals and soon the eating begins.

Luffy gorges himself like usual while everyone else eats normal amounts. "Boy, for a bunch of animals, you guys have some really yummy food!" Luffy exclaims through a mouthful of fruit. I roll my eyes and Chopper lets out a giggle.

"We should probably get some more fruit." Chopper says. "C'mon, Pika-chan." I nod and follow Chopper out of the area, but I can't help but shudder as I glance at Mobambi's disgusted face. Well, here's to hoping that he and the other animals will eventually get sucked into Luffy's, uh, charm.

"I'm really glad they found us." Chopper says as we start to gather more fruits. "I was almost afraid that they would leave without us."

"Pikachu pi." _'C'mon, you know they wouldn't do that.'_

"They wouldn't do that? That's what you said?" Chopper asks, looking at me and I nod. "I guess you're right but…" Chopper's smile fades. "What Zoro said before…"

You mean that crap about you not being cut out for piracy? I wave my paw, "Pika pikachu. Pika pika." _'Don't listen to that Snorlax. You're a part of the crew now and that means we'll never leave you behind.'_

Chopper looks at me; guess he understood again.

 _'What if one of the others was separated?'_ I ask. _'Would you leave them behind?'_

Chopper tilts his head, translating my words slowly, "Would I…" His eyes widen in shock as he figures it out. "No way! I would never do that! They're my friends!"

"Pikachu! Pika pika pi." I exclaim. _'Exactly! Just because you're scared of stuff doesn't mean your friends will abandon you.'_ I give him a sincere gaze. "Pika pi, pikachu pika." _'You're stronger than you think, and I know that you'd never leave one of us behind.'_

"Pika-chan…" Chopper says softly. But before he can say more there's a loud explosion. "What was that?" Chopper exclaims, putting down the fruit. We look to see Mobambi and a few other animals gazing at the steadily rising smoke in the distance.

"That came from Papa's cabin!" Mobambi exclaims. Oh no…

Chopper and I start to run closely followed by Mobambi, Glasses Bird, the other animals, and Usopp and Nami. We reach the cliff directly above the cabin only to see it completely destroyed. A bunch of animals are cornered right below us and three guys are standing among the wreckage.

There's a big muscular guy swinging a big metal ball and chain above his head, a guy with a big unibrow and a long sword, and a guy wearing a dark yellow jacket with a pink mohawk on his head (also, is it just me or does the back of jacket literally say 'evil' on it?).

"W-What's going on?! Mobambi exclaims.

The pig creature from earlier runs up and honks frantically. "These are the guys controlling the Horn Eaters?" Chopper translates. So these are the guys who hurt those poor animals!

We look as Mohawk Guy holds up a Logbook from the wreckage, "I found it!" He cheers. "The answer to the location of the Crowning Treasure!" Of course these guys would be after the treasure too. It makes me realize that having a treasure on your island is the equivalent to drawing a huge bull's-eye on your island with a big sign saying 'Come attack us! We have treasure!'

"The Crowning Treasure? In Papa's Logbook?" Mobambi asks.

"Could that treasure really exist?" Glasses Bird wonders. Wait, they don't know about it?

"You guys have really never heard of it?" Nami asks.

"I'm afraid we don't know the details." An elderly green bird says. "Our elders who did know if it were victims to the Horn Eaters." So we're basically flying blind on this treasure hunt. Flaming hoops in space, man.

We listen as the mohawk guy reads aloud from the Logbook. Apparently the Crowning Treasure lies with the horns of the Animal King, and when the King dies, the power is passed on to the next king, power that can bring out an animal's greatest strength that the King must use to protect the island.

"I see, that makes sense." Usopp says nodding.

The guy with the unibrow suddenly turns around and spots us. "You sneaky bastards!" He yells. "You managed to steal secrets from us again!"

Nami rolls her eyes, "You just said it out loud for everyone to hear again!" She retorts.

"Our boss is just unable to keep secrets, that's all!" The muscular guy protests. Figures, our enemies are morons. Nothing new here.

Mohawk Guy then turns to us, "Where's the Animal King?!" He demands. "Deliver him to me and I'll let all of you live; if you refuse you'll all become victims to my Horn Eaters!" He pulls out a violin and begins to play an eerie tune on it.

"This is bad!" Usopp exclaims. "With that violin, those Horn Eaters will be here in no time!" The animals all shiver with fear as we can hear the sound of thundering hooves in the distance.

I look at Chopper, who's face is conflicted beyond belief. This guy will kill everyone unless the Animal King steps up. Chopper looks at me and we nod; he may not be the real Animal King, but hopefully this will get him to leave Mobambi and the animals alone.

Chopper and I jump down in front of Mohawk Guy. "And who are you?" He asks.

"I am…" Chopper swallows. "I am the Animal King, Tony Tony Chopper!" He flaps his cape and I get on all fours in an offensive position.

"You? Don't make me laugh!" Mohawk Guy says.

Muscular Guy laughs. "There's no way this little runt can be the Animal King!"

"He's not lying!" Glasses Bird speaks up. "He and his brave guardian will get rid of all of you in the blink of an eye!" Boy, these animals love to talk up their King; and that's not really a good thing.

"I did what you said; I'm here!" Chopper says. "So call of the Horn Eaters and fight me!"

Mohawk Guy laughs, "I'll consider your challenge...if you can defeat my Horn Eaters."

"What?!" Oh crap…

Chopper tenses as the Horn Eaters come into view. They all look like they're covered in iron armor; getting trampled by one of those things can't be pleasant. "Now's the time to bring out my secret weapon!" Usopp says, pulling something out of his bag, "Usopp Boomerang!" He pulls out an ordinary looking boomerang and gets ready to throw it. "Get ready! Once I throw this, there's no turning back!" He throws it at Mohawk Guy, but he just ducks. The boomerang lands on the ground, not coming back.

"Hey! Why didn't it come back?" Nami asks.

"Like I said," Usopp says with a nervous smile, "Once I throw it, there's no turning back!" Oh for Arceus' sake…

The Horn Eaters draw closer to us and Chopper gives me a little shove, "Pika-chan, you get somewhere safe, okay?" He says bravely, despite his legs practically knocking together.

I immediately shake my head, "Pikachu" _'No way, friends don't leave each other, remember?'_ I give him a determined look. _'And besides, I'm your guardian, right?'_

Chopper looks at me and I can tell he feels a bit better. He nods and we get ready. "Let's go!" He yells and we take off, running headlong towards the Horn Eaters.

"Chopper! Pika-chan!" Mobambi yells. I run ahead and quickly charge my electricity. I let loose a giant wave of electricity hitting a handful of the Horn Eaters. My paralysis takes effect and the affected Horn Eaters stumble and fall, causing a bit of a traffic jam for the ones behind.

Chopper runs past me and I follow, running and good distance away from the Horn Eaters. Unfortunately, the ones who didn't get paralyzed see Chopper's horns and resume the chase. Chopper throws off his clothes, keeping on his cape and pink hat while I take off my beret and flower bracelets. No point in wearing these since we're heading for a fight. I don't have time to take off my vest before we have to run again, but it doesn't bother me.

Chopper transforms into Walk Point as the Horn Eaters chase after us into the forest. I jump onto Chopper's back as we head up a mountain; we have to keep those Horn Eaters as far from the other animals as possible. Chopper uses his Heavy Point to swing across gaps and Walk Point to jump up tall rocky hills, but those guys just keep coming!

We keep running until we eventually reach an area full of mushroom-like rock formations. Chopper slows to a stop, making me stop too, "Pika?" _'Chopper?'_

Chopper stares at the rock formations and it hits me. That's right; mushrooms are pretty much the reason that Doctor Hiruluk is dead. They must bring up some bad memories. I move towards him when I see three figures coming towards us.

"Pikachu!" _'Chopper, look out!'_ I quickly shove him out of the way as the muscular guys gives me a hard punch, sending me flying.

"Pika-chan!" Chopper hurries over to me but Muscle Guy leaps towards him.

"Pika!" _'Chopper!'_ I cry as he punches Chopper as well. I shake off the blow and quickly help Chopper up only to shove us both out of harm's way just in time before we're punched again. Crap, this guy may be burly but he's fast! I won't have any time to charge up for a proper attack!

Chopper and I run towards a mushroom rock that's hanging over a canyon as Unibrow Guy leaps towards us. My eyes widen as his sword bends and snaps towards us like a whip. Chopper and I both leap and dodge, propelling us to the middle of the mushroom rock and Unibrow Guy follows us.

Alright, that's it! I make my tail iron and quickly intercept his sword as it snaps at us again, knocking it away from Chopper. I manage to deflect a few more whiplashes when all of a sudden, the sword-whip wraps around my tail. "Gotcha!" Unibrow Guy yanks his sword-whip, sending me into the air before slamming me onto the ground.

"Pika-chan!" Chopper cries as the whip unwraps from my tail. I look up as Unibrow Guy raises his whip, making it a sword once again, but I feel two hooves pull me out of the way just in time. Chopper staggers near the edge of the rock, holding me as best he can. Chopper tightens his grip on me as Unibrow Guy raises his sword for another strike when the rock we're on begins to fall.

An arm wraps around me and Chopper and we're hanging in the air as the rock and Unibrow Guy fall into the canyon below. Chopper and I smile as we see a familiar blonde head down below, "Sanji!"

"Pika!"

"And Zoro too!" Chopper beams up at the swordsman who's hanging onto a branch while holding us. Looks like Sanji's gonna handle Unibrow Guy; good thing he knows how to fight people with swords. Zoro jumps back onto land with us, only to dodge a punch at the last second from Muscle Guy, making him toss us to the ground.

"Run for it, you two." Zoro says. "This guy is mine."

Chopper and I nod and we continue to run. We run a good distance away from the fight when Chopper suddenly falls, making me skid to a halt. I whirl around to see Mohawk Guy sitting on top of Chopper. "You're not going anywhere!" He sneers.

He grabs Chopper's horns and I see red. I charge towards Mohawk Guy and white energy surrounds me. "Pika pika!" _'Leave him alone!'_ I slam right into his middle and send him flying off Chopper. Chopper gives me a grateful smile as I help him up when a familiar voice rings through the air.

"Gum Gum...Pistol!"

On instinct, I duck, pulling Chopper down with me and Mohawk Guy goes flying into a nearby rock, a rubber fist hitting his back. Chopper beams as we whirl around to see Luffy, Nami, and Usopp running towards us. "Guys! You're here!" Chopper cries happily.

"Pikachu!" I agree.

"Are you guys okay?" Nami asks.

"Yeah!" Chopper nods.

"Chu!"

"No need to worry; now that Captain Usopp has arrived there's nothing to fear!" Usopp says, puffing out his chest.

"Really?!" Chopper exclaims happily with sparkling eyes.

"Alright then; go get 'em Captain Usopp." Nami says flatly, giving him a small shove forwards.

"D-Don't be ridiculous!" Usopp stutters, quickly moving back a good few steps. "My new move should only be saved for the climax of the battle!" Uh-huh, sure.

"Now you'll pay, you insects!" We all jump as Mohawk Guy gets to his feet and pulls out his violin. "You're all about to fall into hell!" He starts playing the same tune from earlier; crap, now what do we do?!

My eyes widen as Luffy suddenly starts growling. Hold on...are you seriously telling me that Luffy is being controlled by the violin too?! My thought is proven right as Usopp and Nami rush forward and scream right into his ears, drowning out the music and making him faint as well. Wow Luffy, your mind really is a wonder.

The ground starts to shake as the Horn Eaters start to rush towards us. I start to run with the others but realize that Luffy's still on the ground. I growl and hurry towards him, making my tail iron; why can't this guy save his own skin when the situation demands it?!

I give a hard swing and send him flying, making him land on one of the nearby mushroom rocks, but it takes me a second to realize that I'm seconds away from being trampled by the Horn Eaters. I turn to run, but it's too late. I yelp as I feel one of the Horn Eaters hit me and I'm flying through the air.

I scream and flail as I soar until I finally hit the ground and everything goes dark.

* * *

As the sun set on Crown Island, things had taken a turn for the worst. Count Butler had eaten the golden horns of the previous Animal King which Mobambi had brought to try and help Chopper escape. Butler had transformed into a giant horned beast, with the abilities of every animal. His speed and strength had already proved to be a challenge for Luffy, nearly sending him off the mountain.

Chopper desperately wanted to help, but to his horror, he was without any Rumble Balls. He could've sworn he had at least one before he and Pika-chan were thrown from the ship! Without it, there was no way he could stand up to this monster!

"You're still going?" Butler asked as Luffy climbed back up the mountain. "Just give up! I have the power of every animal in the world; you can't defeat me! Now every lowlife beast on this puny island will obey my every command, even the Horn Eaters!"

"W-Well, good luck with that!" Usopp said suddenly.

"What was that?" Butler asked dangerously, causing Usopp to shriek and hide behind Nami.

"W-We trapped those Horn Eaters of yours!" Usopp said shakily. "Good luck trying to get them to come after us now!" Usopp's smile faded as Butler started to chuckle softly. "What? What's so funny?" He asked.

"Did you honestly think I was controlling _all_ of the Horn Eaters?" Butler asked, making Nami and Usopp freeze in terror. Butler let out a loud animal-like shriek, making the very air shake.

Meanwhile, in the rocky terrain where the trapped Horn Eaters currently resided, the loud sound of hooves running could be heard as the other half of the Horn Eater herd ran towards them. The rocks blocking the trapped animals shattered easily by the remaining Horn Eaters, having had more room to build up speed to charge, and the entire herd was back together again.

Back on the mountain, Butler continued to grin, "With this power, I can make not just the Horn Eaters, but any animal do my bidding!" He said. "I can even send the Horn Eaters after whoever I want, whether they have horns or not!" He gazed down the mountain. "Like that little yellow friend of yours in that gorge!"

Chopper's eyes widened in horror as the stampeding hooves could be heard even from the mountain. "Pika-chan…!"

* * *

I groan and rub my head as I slowly get up. What the heck happened? I remember that fat guy kicked me and I was with Chopper and-! Chopper! Where is he?!

I glance around frantically, but I'm all alone, in some kind of canyon. I look up at the sky and see that it's turning pink; how long was I knocked out?! I really hope Chopper was able to get away from those guys. They were hell bent on getting him; hopefully the others are able to protect him.

Wait, what am I saying, of course they can! Luffy wouldn't let someone hurt Chopper or any of us! And I remember Luffy was with us before I got kicked, so Chopper should be fine!

I glance up at the top of the gorge which is a good twenty feet or so high. And the walls are smooth and dusty; there's no way I can jump of climb out of here. I'll just have to look for a way to climb out; that shouldn't be too hard.

I take a step when my ears twitch. I hear something...is that rumbling? The ground starts to slightly shake; what's going on? I look at the ground to see pebbles shaking along with the ground. Is that rumbling getting louder?

I turn around just in time to see the Horn Eater starting to enter the gorge. It takes me a second to realize how royally screwed I am. I'm in a narrow gorge, my lightning can only stun and handful of those creatures, and there's no way for me to climb out of here, leaving me only one option.

I run.

I nearly stumble from the rumbling getting closer to me as the Horn Eaters start gaining. What's going on?! I thought these things only chased things with horns! And man, these things are pretty damn fast! All I can do is keep running until I can find a way out; I just hope I can last without them crushing me.

* * *

Chopper ran as fast as he could in Walk Point, Luffy, Nami, Usopp and Mobambi close behind. They could hear the hooves of the Horn Eaters getting closer, so hopefully that meant they were closer to where Pika-chan was.

 _'Pika-chan…'_ Chopper grit his teeth as he willed himself to run faster. How dare that man attack Pika-chan! If something happened to his friend he would make that man wish he was never born! "Mobambi! Are we close?" Chopper asked.

"Just this way!" Mobambi answered, pointing. "We're nearly there!"

Chopper nodded and focused on running once again, _'Pika-chan...please be okay!'_ He shut his eyes as memories of Pika-chan flashed into his mind against his will.

How Pika-chan would stand up for him when no one else would;

how Pika-chan was one of the first to accept him and see him as a friend;

how Pika-chan would stand by him and encourage him, helping him to overcome his fear and fight for what was right;

how Pika-chan helped him let down his walls to chase his dream and join the others on their voyage to accomplish their dreams.

 _'You've got to be okay! You've got to! Just hang in there!'_

The group continued to run when something rushed into their path. Or rather, into Nami's path. The navigator let out a yelp as she collided with something hard, sending them both sprawling to the ground. "What the heck…?" Nami grumbled as she tried to get up.

"Oh Nami! Are you alright?" Nami looked to see Sanji under her; apparently he was the one she had slammed into.

Nami got off him and Zoro walked up a few seconds later, "Geez, would it kill you to slow down?" He asked, glaring at Sanji.

Sanji ignored him and helped Nami to her feet, "I didn't hurt you, did I my dear? I'm sorry, I'm such a klutz!"

"It's fine, really." Nami said waving her hand. "Now c'mon, we have to go!"

"Go where?" Sanji asked.

"And where's Luffy and the others?" Zoro added.

"I'll tell you later, we just have to go! Luffy and the others are up ahead!" Nami said and tried to goad them into running.

"Did he already beat that Butler guy?" Zoro asked.

"And what about Chopper and Pika-chan? Did they get away?" Sanji asked.

"SHUT UP!" Nami yelled. "We don't have time for this!"

"Nami, what's wrong?" Sanji asked, noting her terrified expression.

"Butler ate the Crowning Treasure and turned into some freaky mutant animal!" Nami exclaimed. "He sent those Horn Eaters on a stampede in that canyon ahead! And Pika-chan's down there!"

* * *

I breathe heavily as the Horn Eaters grow ever closer to me. My chest is tight from all the running, but the adrenaline and fear is keeping me going. I glance behind me to see that they're right on top of me! They're gonna trample me! I can practically feel the heavy hooves as they barely brush my tail; I have to get out of here!

I suddenly spy a small dead tree sitting in the gorge. It looks fragile but it's better than nothing! I take a flying leap and climb the tree, trying desperately to hold on as the ground shakes from the stampede.

The Horn Eaters run around the tree, but not without knocking it and tearing the weak trunk with their horns. My eyes widen as in a matter of seconds, the tree staggers dangerously, barely able to hold my weight thanks to the running animals. What am I going to do?!

"Pika-chan!" My ears twitch as I hear a familiar voice; that's Chopper! I look up to see all my friends, including Mobambi peering over the edge of the canyon.

"Pika pi!" _'Guys! Help me!'_ I cry, trying desperately to keep my grip on the trembling tree. It's mere inches away from completely snapping! One more hard hit and I'll be sent flying into those Horn Eaters!

Punctuating my thoughts, the tree dips dangerously, nearly throwing me off. My fear finally starts to claw at my throat and I scream, "Pika!" _'Hurry!'_

* * *

"Pika!"

Chopper felt his heart plummet at the scream from Pika-chan. The plea rang loud and clear in his head: _'Hurry!'_

But how were they going to get Pika-chan out of there?! There's no way his friends could fight off all these Horn Eaters without getting seriously hurt or killed! They may be strong, but they're still human! Chopper gazed at Pika-chan as it struggled to hang onto the dead tree, fear written all across its face.

 _'Don't worry; you'll have your chance to shine, then you'll show 'em!'_

Chopper grit his teeth and took his cape off, wrapping it around his horns to hide them from view. He couldn't just stand here! He had to save his friend! If it was him down there instead of Pika-chan, he knew that Pika-chan wouldn't just sit around either!

Ignoring his friend's calls, Chopper jumped and slid down the side of the gorge, still in Walk Point. He was going to have to time this just right since he didn't have another Rumble Ball with him. Once he was near the ground, he leapt and landed among the stampeding Horn Eaters, running alongside them.

He ran past Pika-chan and the tree, glancing at his side all the while, looking for an opening. There was a slight open area around the tree where the Horn Eaters ran around it; that was his chance! Gritting his teeth, he pushed his way through the angry animals until he was a few yards from the tree.

He started to run towards it when he saw a Horn Eater right behind the tree. Chopper's eyes widened in fear as the Horn Eater easily charged through the remaining trunk of the tree with a loud snap.

* * *

I can't help but scream as there's a loud snap and I'm flying through the air. I flail until I hit the ground with a thump. I look up only to be greeted by the iron hooves of the Horn Eaters. Air blows drastically as they all rush by me, their hooves barely missing me.

All of a sudden, the sky is dark. There's a red tint in the distance as the hooves become black, the thundering of hooves now accompanied by screaming. My fear starts to grow at a much more rapid rate as the screams grate on my ears. I can see fire in the distance and monstrous figures making their way towards me through the stampeding feet.

 _'No... No please…'_ I whimper. _'No... don't come any closer!'_ I crouch on the ground and cover my head, squeezing my eyes shut. _'Please no! Don't take me away! Leave me alone!'_ I feel tears leak out of my eyes as the sounds of screaming grow louder, making me cover my ears. _'Go away! Don't take me away! I'm begging you, please!'_

"Pika-chan!"

My eyes fly open at the familiar voice and I'm back in the gorge, surrounded by stampeding Horn Eaters. I feel a furry snout slide under me and toss me onto their back. It's Chopper!

"Pika!" I exclaim in relief, holding onto his fur.

"Hold on!" Chopper responds, his eyes forward and focused as he runs among the Horn Eaters. I then recognize the flag covering his horns; so that's why the Horn Eaters aren't chasing him! Unfortunately, that doesn't make them any less rough when they're on a rampage. I hold onto Chopper tightly as he struggles to run among the animals, wincing as they bump and hit him with their iron bodies, fighting for space in the narrow area.

I cry out worriedly as Chopper nearly stumbles after a particularly hard hit, "Pikachu!"

"Don't worry!" Chopper bites out. "I'll get us out of this! I promise!"

I nod and tighten my grip on his back; I trust Chopper. He'll make it through, somehow. Finally, Chopper sees an opening and with a cry, takes a flying leap. He transforms into Heavy Point and grabs the flat wall of the gorge, digging his fingers into the earth.

"There they are!" I hear Nami yell.

"Chopper!"

"Pika-chan!"

I hold onto his back with all my strength as Chopper slowly begins to climb. Chopper grits his teeth as the stampede gets further and further away down below. I can't help but yelp as Chopper's grip slips ever so slightly, causing us to slide a bit down the wall. As determined as Chopper is, I really don't know if he can keep this up until we get to the top! If we fall, it's over!

"Hang on, Chopper!" I look up to see Luffy rearing back his fist and I mentally slap myself. How could I possibly forget that Luffy can stretch?

"I don't think so." All of a sudden, a giant hulking furry monster appears behind our friends. The monster is gigantic in every sense of the word, with razor sharp, claws, fangs, and giant horns; where the heck did this thing come from?!

The monster swipes at the others, sending them flying. "You guys!" Chopper cries in horror.

"Pika pi!"

Thankfully, he doesn't send them into the stampede, but that still must've hurt. "You bastard!" Luffy springs back up and throws a punch, but the monster grabs his stretchy arm and throws him aside. Sanji and Zoro run into the fray, but the monster makes easy pickings out of them; how powerful is this thing?! Chopper grits his teeth and starts to climb again.

I look up and keep an eye out for anything that can help us get up faster; we have to help somehow! A thought suddenly hits me and I carefully reach into the pocket of my now filthy vest.

Yes! It's still here!

I brighten and pull out Chopper's Rumble Ball. Now we can get out of here easily to lend a hand! "Pika!" I exclaim.

"What is it?" Chopper asks, looking back at me. I hold up the Rumble Ball and Chopper's expression lights up dramatically. "My Rumble Ball!" He exclaims. "You found it!"

"Pikachu!" I say.

"Quick, put it in my mouth!" Chopper says. I quickly start to reach towards him to comply.

"I don't think so." Chopper and I freeze in terror. We look up to see the monster standing right over us. "Why don't you do your subjects a favor and stay dead, Animal King."

Our eyes widen as the monster slides down towards us, using his claws to dig into the wall and keep from falling. _'No…!'_ The monster raises his other paw, his claws glinting dangerously.

"Chopper! Pika-chan!" We hear Luffy call to us, but it's too late.

Chopper lets out a scream of pain as the monster's claw slams into him sending us both flying into the air. Red drops of liquid spray into the air I feel the Rumble Ball slip from my paw, _'No!'_

I glance around, but I can't find it anywhere! The strength of the blow forces us down the canyon almost where the beginning of the stampede currently is; he wants us to get trampled completely! Chopper and I both scream as we begin to fall towards the Horn Eaters. No! This can't be it! We can't die here!

I open my eyes and suddenly see something yellow glint from the setting sun. It's the Rumble Ball!

Chopper apparently sees it too and grabs onto me. "Hold on!" He says and I nod. I try to not look down at the quickly approaching Horn Eaters as the medicine falls right into Chopper's mouth. We're mere inches from the stampede. Chopper chomps down on the Rumble Ball and I squeeze my eyes shut.

I feel like a giant furry cloud surrounds me just before hitting the ground.

* * *

"CHOPPER! PIKA-CHAN!" Mobambi screamed as the two creatures vanished into the stampede. Everyone scanned the Horn Eaters, but no other movement could be seen or heard from either the reindeer or the mouse.

Butler laughed and easily leapt back up onto solid ground. "Good riddance." He said. "That puny reindeer was really starting to get on my nerves."

"You bastard…" Butler looked at Luffy who was getting to his knees, the brim of his hat hiding his expression. "How dare you…" He lifted his head, fixing Butler with a murderous glare. "How dare you do that to our friends!"

Butler laughed, "What do you care? That reindeer was just a pathetic weakling; the mouse at least put up a fight."

"Chopper is no coward!" Mobambi finally speaks up. "I won't let you talk about my friend like that!"

"Oh? What can a snot-nosed brat like you possibly do to stop me?!" Butler demands.

Mobambi froze and slowly clenched his fist, "If I put my mind to it...I can be strong!" He yelled.

Butler raised his claw, "Now you die!"

"GUM GUM PISTOL!" Butler flew back as Luffy's fist collided with his face. "Now Gum Gum...Gatling!" Luffy followed up with multiple rapid punches, slowly pushing Butler towards the edge of the gorge.

"Do you honestly think you can win?!" Butler demanded, his horns lighting up. "The power of the Crowning Treasure is absolute! I am the King!" Butler swung his head towards Luffy, but the pirate grit his teeth and grabbed the flaming hot horns.

"You're no king!" Luffy growled. "Chopper risked his life to save Pika-chan, to save a friend!" Luffy's eyes glowed with rage. "I WON'T LET YOU BELITTLE HIM LIKE THAT!" He tightened his grip on the horns and crushed them in his grasp. Butler howled and screamed in pain as his fur dissolved and his body became twisted and deformed.

"NOW GUM GUM…" Luffy drew his arms back as far as possible. "...BAZOOKA!" His palms slammed into Butler and the man went flying until he was just a speck in the sky.

"He did it!" Usopp cheered.

Nami sighed in relief, "Thank goodness…"

Mobambi nodded when his attention was drawn to the gorge; the Horn Eaters had finally all run past them. The stampede was over. His eyes widened, "Oh no! Chopper! Pika-chan!"

Luffy broke out of his grin and the rest of the Straw Hats just about leapt to their feet, their injuries and exhaustion not hindering them. They quickly slid down into the gorge and ran along the bottom.

"Chopper!"

"Pika-chan!"

"Where are you guys?!"

"Pika-chan, can you hear me?!"

"Chopper, are you there?!"

Mobambi suddenly caught a glimpse of something in the distance. He ran towards it but skidded to a halt once it came into view.

"Hey Shorty! What did you find?" Luffy asked, coming towards him with the others. Mobambi bit his lip and picked up the object; it was Chopper's hat.

"I found this too." Everyone turned to Zoro who held up the torn and ratty Jolly Roger that was once Chopper's cape.

"Chopper...Pika-chan…" Mobambi whimpered. "Are...Are they-"

"No." Everyone looked at Luffy. "They're fine; Chopper and Pika-chan wouldn't die that easily."

"But the Horn Eaters-"

"It doesn't matter!" Luffy cut Mobambi off again before looking directly at the boy. "You're their friend, aren't you? Then believe in them; they're okay."

Mobambi stared at him in silence before nodding and the group continued down the gorge, searching for their lost friends.

* * *

Brown.

That's the first thing I see when I open my eyes. There's nothing but brown.

I'm pretty sure that means I'm not dead, right? Everything feels warm and fuzzy; what happened? I remember that monster threw us from the cliff, Chopper ate the Rumble Ball and then…! Oh, I get it now! I know where I am!

"Are you okay, Pika-chan?" I hear Chopper's voice, a bit muffled, but close by.

"Pikachu." _'I think so.'_ I respond.

"Okay, I'm gonna go back to normal okay?" Chopper says. "My three minutes are just about up."

"Pika." I say with confirmation. I feel movement and the fur slowly begins to fall away. Chopper and I tumble out of the furry shield to find ourselves back in the gorge. The Horn Eaters are gone and everything is quiet; looks like we're finally safe.

Chopper and I both deflate in relief, "We made it…"

"Pikachu…" I glance at Chopper and realize something is missing. "Pika pika." _'Chopper...your hat!'_

I point to his head and Chopper reaches up, feeling his bare head. "My hat! Where's my hat?!" He exclaims. I look around but I don't see his hat anywhere; it's gotta be somewhere.

We start to move but Chopper yelps in pain. I turn and my eyes widen as I see a decent gash on his side, probably from when that monster hit us off the cliff. "Pika!" I hurry over to him.

"Don't worry." Chopper says. "When I activated my Fur Boost I was able to use my fur to stop most of the bleeding."

I look closer at the wound and see that he's right. The gash is dripping blood, but it's not as bad as I expected it to be. I smile and I place myself under Chopper's arm, helping him to stand up straight. "Pika." _'Let's go.'_ I say. Chopper smiles and nods and we start to walk along the gorge.

We walk for a while when my ears twitch.

"Chopper…!"

"Pika-chan…!"

I know those voices. Chopper and I exchange a glance and hurry towards them. We squint through the still falling dust and six familiar figures make themselves known.

"You guys!" Chopper calls.

"Pika pi!"

Our friends all finally come into view and their expressions become those of relief. "Chopper! Pika-chan!" Luffy yells in delight. Chopper and I limp towards them as fast as we can; Luffy and Usopp wrap their arms around Chopper and I leap into Sanji's once Chopper is supported.

"You're really gonna give me a heart attack one day." Sanji says softly as I nuzzle him.

"Pika pi." _'Sorry.'_ I say, both of us unable to keep the smiles off our faces.

Nami approaches us and I give her a hug too, "I'm so glad you're okay!" She exclaims.

"Pikachu!" I squeal as she rubs my ears. Mobambi gives Chopper a big hug once Luffy and Usopp finally give him some air and holds out a familiar pink hat.

"You found my hat!" Chopper exclaims. He puts it back on his head with a big smile, "Thanks!"

Mobambi smiles back, just as big.

* * *

When we all climb out of the gorge, all the animals on the island are there to greet us. They apparently heard Mobambi during the fight and came to see if he was alright. These animals really do care about him, don't they?

Unfortunately, Mobambi doesn't seem very thrilled as he says that he has to leave the island because he lost the Crowning Treasure. However, it seems the animals don't agree as an elephant comes up and places the small crown onto Mobambi's head, the one Chopper wore before.

"W-What's this?" Mobambi asks, touching the crown on his head.

"Isn't it obvious?" Usopp asks. "They were all so moved by how brave you were!"

Nami nods, "Everyone here wants to protect the island with you."

Mobambi's eyes widen, "Y-You mean...I can stay?"

"Of course you can!" Glasses Bird exclaims. "Don't be silly!"

"I'm so glad…" Mobambi says happily, tears of relief coming to his eyes. Just then, the ground starts to shake and loud explosions can be heard from around the island. Those are the geysers again. A strong wind starts to blow and the sound of an old bell can be heard in the distance. Everyone looks around and their eyes widen.

"Beautiful…" Nami breathes.

"Would you look at that…" Sanji muses.

The mist from the geysers are catching the last light of the sunset, creating a giant golden ring around the island.

"When the island bears the crown...the Heavens shall bestow upon us, a new Animal King." The old green bird says. "The Heavens have acknowledged Mobambi!"

"Amazing!" Glasses Bird exclaims. "Mobambi has been chosen as our true Animal King!" Mobambi stares at the animals all smiling at him and tears of joy finally begin to leak from his eyes.

Chopper and I share a glance and smile at the sight; this really was a treasure worth jumping through flaming hoops for.

* * *

That night, we had a festival that lasted the whole night, celebrating the defeat of Butler (turns out that was his name) and the coronation of the new Animal King, Mobambi. There was fruit, dancing, (lots of medical attention), and merriment all around. For animals, they really knew how to throw a party.

The next morning, we finally set sail. Saying goodbye to Mobambi was hard, but we knew that deep down he knew our decision. "You sure you don't want to stay?" He asked.

"We're pirates; we belong on the sea." Chopper answered. "But even though we're apart...we'll always be friends!"

I smile as I remember Vivi and Carue staying behind in Alabasta. Distance never matters when it comes to friendship, and this is no different. We bade farewell to Mobambi and all the animals and we were on our way, with tons of fruit for the ride.

"Man, I'm beat." Usopp says with a yawn. "That festival really took it out of me."

"It's too bad we couldn't get some of the Crowning Treasure for ourselves, too." Nami sighs.

Zoro shrugs, "C'mon, we got another kind of treasure, isn't that enough?"

"Another treasure?" Chopper asks, jumping onto the railing. "What do you mean?"

"Chopper, he means you." Luffy answers. Chopper's eyes widen and he looks at me. I smile and give a firm nod in agreement. Chopper's just about to smile back when the ship rocks and sails billow.

"Hey, the wind finally picked up." Luffy observes.

"A-Are we gonna be okay?" Chopper asks fearfully.

"Pirates shouldn't be scared of this!" Usopp says. Here we go… "In the future we're going to face all kinds of dangers like, Human Faced Whales, Killer crabs…"

He starts listing off ridiculous monster names and a vein pops on my head. I raise my tail, ready to sweep it under his feet when-

"Okay! I'm not scared! I'll stick through it!" I look at Chopper and see a look of determination on his face. We all grin at him and I hold out my paw. Chopper grasps it and we beam at each other. Being a pirate may not be a cakewalk, but as long as we're together, we can make it through anything.

"ALRIGHT, LET'S SET SAIL! FULL SPEED AHEAD!"

"AYE!"

* * *

 **Glaringly obvious reference is glaringly obvious XD**

 **Honestly, I got a pretty big Lion King vibe when I re-watched this movie and I don't know why... maybe because the real animal king was a lion, or it was because there were stampedes all over this movie and people now always associate stampedes with Lion King, I dunno...**

 **Anyway I hope you enjoyed this! Next week, we'll get moving into the Jaya arc and you know who's coming next! Yes, Robin is being introduced next chapter. She's on the ship, the others just don't know it yet X3 And don't forget, way back when the Apis arc ended, Erik was on their ship all through Clockwork Island. Plus, Robin is an assassin, I think it would be child's play for her to sneak onto a ship and stay hidden for a few days *puts on sunglasses* Deal with it.**

 **And be sure to check out this story's companion story 'Perks of the Smallest' if you haven't already! If you have ideas for filler scenarios with Pika-chan, that's the story to share them!**

 **(Also I'm going to start with the Rainbow Mist arc before we get into the full Jaya swing, I'll explain why later)**


	53. Robin

**Alright, time to tell you the game plan for this upcoming saga.**

 **The only filler arc I'm going to do before we get into Jaya is the Rainbow Mist arc, not Zenny. I'm sorry but I watched it through and honestly, there was nothing for Pika-chan to benefit from in that arc as a character or a fighter. That's how it's gonna be for this story. If the arc is super short AND doesn't impact Pika-chan at all, I'm skipping it.**

 **HOWEVER, this is exactly what 'Perks of the Smallest' is for. If I skip a filler arc in the main story and you REALLY want to see it, that's most likely where it will end up. So just let me know if you want to see it and look for it in that story!**

 **Also, Jaya is going to have some BIG transition changes in order to fit Movies 4 and 5 into the main story timeline, but I'll warn you about that when we get to it. Anyway, it's time for the debut of the newest Straw Hat Pirate! Enter: Nico Robin!**

* * *

I hate Marines. Have I mentioned that before? I hate them with a burning passion! Granted, I'm sure all pirates hate them, and Sword Girl and Smoky are kind of in the grey area when it comes to my hatred, but that doesn't change the fact that they're annoying as hell!

About a day after leaving Crown Island, the Marines caught up to us, and to make it worse, they were firing those annoying harpoons at us again! While I'm glad that they aren't surrounding us like they did in Alabasta, that doesn't change the fact that these things are hard as hell to dodge!

At least, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and I can deflect them with relative ease...when the former three aren't tripping over the harpoons we're collecting for some reason.

"Usopp said we should hold onto them just in case." Nami says.

"But they're in our way!" Sanji protests.

"I'll get rid of them." Luffy says simply. One Gum Gum Slingshot later, and the Marine ships are smoking and sinking, full of their own harpoons. That was easy.

"Now's our chance!" Zoro says. "Full speed ahead! Shake them off!" Since the wind's not at our backs at the moment, the boys break out the oars while Usopp works fixing any damage the harpoons may have caused. Luckily after a while, the wind picks up again and soon the Marine ships are out of sight.

I jump onto Zoro's shoulder as we look to make sure they're really gone. "Looks like we lost them." He says.

"Pika." I agree. The others respond with soft groans.

"That's good news!" Zoro says irritably. More groans. What the heck?

Zoro and I look at our friends to see that they're all on the ground, their arms hanging from the railing, their faces droopy and depressed. "What's with the pathetic groans?" Zoro asks.

"Pika?" I ask, tilting my head.

The group all looks to the side, tears forming in their eyes. "I miss her!" They all whine.

Man, not this again! It's been almost three days since we left Alabasta and they're still having these episodes about her... I can't help but smile in sympathy, I can understand why they're upset; that girl was one in a million. "Pika pi." I say, waving my paw. _'C'mon, I miss her too, but Vivi wouldn't want you to be sad!'_

"If you wanted her to join so bad you shouldn't have let her leave." Zoro remarks making me look at him in shock. Dude, that's cold!

"You savage!" Chopper exclaims.

"Blockhead!" Nami yells.

"Idiot." Sanji mutters.

"Three Sword Style." Luffy mumbles.

"That's not an insult Luffy!" Usopp says.

"...Four Sword Style?" Luffy tries.

"No! An effective insult involves some personal detail about the person who's rude or disparaging!" Usopp exclaims. Zoro turns away but my ears twitch as the door to storage opens.

"Looks like we finally escaped the firing squad." My ears twitch; I know that voice. I turn around and my eyes widen to see Ms. All Sunday standing in the doorway. I give Zoro a frantic tap making him turn around and the situation finally makes itself known.

The rest of the group bang their heads on the railing from the shock and I leap off Zoro's shoulder, sparks flying from my cheeks. Zoro puts his hands on his swords while everyone else goes crazy. Nami, Usopp and Luffy eventually join Zoro and I on the ground while Sanji and Chopper watch from the stairs, Sanji with his heart eyes on. I'll deal with him later, we have bigger problems right now!

We watch All Sunday as she starts to move across the deck. Arms suddenly appear and knock Nami and Zoro's weapons away and I gasp as I'm lifted into the air. I'm passed through the air by hands until I end up in All Sunday's grasp in a sick sense of Deja Vu.

"Didn't I tell you?" All Sunday says. "Don't point such dangerous objects at me." She strokes my head and I tense up. Her whole aura is still super mysterious and it's freaking me out! I can't believe she's holding me hostage again! Luckily, it breaks Sanji out of his love eyes, so there's that.

"How long have you been on our ship?" Nami demands. "Quite a while." All Sunday answers. "And these are your clothes right? I'm borrowing them." Wow, she's blunt.

"Just who the hell do you think you are, lady?!" Nami demands. Has she was on the ship ever since we left Alabasta? Even through that whole Crown Island fiasco? How do we never notice when people sneak on our ship?! She's been here for three days and no one suspected anything?! Seriously, how?!

All Sunday holds me in one arm while she gets a deck chair and moves to an open spot on the deck. "Monkey D. Luffy." she says, looking at him while she walks. "It hasn't been so long that you've forgotten what you did to me, has it?"

I look up at her in confusion, knowing she must be talking about the temple; what are you talking about lady, he saved you!

"Luffy! What the hell did you do to her?!" Sanji demands, shaking Luffy by the front of his vest.

"Stop lying, I didn't do anything to you!" Luffy protests, ignoring Sanji's assault.

All Sunday sets up the chair with some more extra arms and sits in it, leaning back and still holding me. "Wrong." she says, "And what you did was unbearable; admit it." Okay, this is really getting weird; did Luffy do something I didn't see? I was the last one to leave the temple after all.

"You're not making any sense." Luffy says. "What do you want me to do?"

All Sunday smiles and gives another gentle stroke, "I want...to join you." Well, this just got complicated.

"WHAAAAT?!"

"Back at the temple, I wanted nothing more than to die at that very moment." All Sunday explains. "But you forced me to live. That's your crime." You're saying that like it's a bad thing… I wince as she scratches me behind the ears, "There's no place for me to go or return to, so I decided to join you."

"I see." Luffy nods. "Then I guess there's no other choice; welcome aboard."

"LUFFY!" Nami, Zoro and Usopp yell indignantly. Well, that was fast.

Luffy just grins, "There's nothing to worry about, she isn't a bad person; trust me."

I grimace and look up at All Sunday only for her to give me serene smile. This is going to be one of those days…

* * *

A few moments later, Usopp has a table set up for an interview. I still sit in Robin's lap, her hands gently stroking me while she creates extra hands to entertain Luffy and Chopper.

I'll admit, this isn't as bad as last time on Whiskey Peak since she isn't holding me hostage, but her demeanor is still a mystery. I can't get a read on her at all, and it's not because I don't have a bond of trust with her. Even with strangers I can at least pick up little tidbits of basic emotion, but for her, I've got nothing!

"Alright, I want some straight-up honest answers!" Usopp says. "First; what's your name." He then pauses and bows his head. "My name's Usopp." Of course, manners come first.

"Nico Robin." All Sunday answers. So that's her name; Robin.

"So, what's your occupation, Nico Robin?" Usopp asks.

"Archeology." Robin answers. My ears perk up; that's certainly something I didn't expect. "Archeology runs in my blood; I come from a long line of them." Well, that's certainly a job we could make use of. If we come across any treasure maps, maybe she could keep us from having jump through flaming hoops in space.

Usopp scribbles stuff down on a notepad, "Go on." He urges.

"I decided to pursue archeology when I was eight years old." Robin continues. "Shortly after, I found myself wanted by the World Government, and I've spent the last twenty years hiding from the world." My eyes widen; seriously? The Marines deemed her a threat when she was freaking eight?! "I decided to travel on the sea, but there's no easy way for a child to survive alone on the water; I managed to survive and work towards my goal by working for various rogues, and here we are."

Wow, I'm definitely itching for details on what her life was like! Surviving on the ocean by working for criminals for twenty years? That's insane!

"And I'm guessing you incorporated Crocodile into your gallery of rogues." Usopp states.

"Of course." Robin answers stroking my back. "I used him to find the Rio Poneglyph." Rio Pona-who? "I'm good at getting past obstacles to achieve my goal; I'd be a great asset to you and your friends."

Usopp frowns, "You're very confident; what's your specialty?"

Robin gives another scratch and smiles, "Killing." Wow, did I just feel a chill?

"Luffy! My investigation has concluded that she is way too dangerous!" Usopp cries. Unfortunately, Luffy and Chopper are on the ground, having the time of their lives with Robin's hands tickling them and playing with them. I have a feeling they aren't going to be persuaded anytime soon.

I flinch as Nami stomps her foot, "I'm disappointed; you two are pathetic." She says, walking down the stairs. "Until recently she was the vice president of a crime syndicate and you really think she should join us?" Nami smiles but Robin doesn't seem at all bothered. "You may have fooled these idiots, but I'm not convinced." Nami continues. "You pull anything and I'll personally kick you out!"

Wow, I forgot how much of a backbone Nami can have in situations like these.

"I'll keep that in mind." Robin says before reaching into her pocket. "Oh, and I just remembered…" She takes out a bag and places it on the table with a decent jingle. Oh dear… "I brought along some of Crocodile's jewelry with me."

A split second later, Nami is right next to her, money practically shining in her eyes. "Wow, I love you sister, you're the best!" She squeals.

I sigh and my ears droop; that's three down. Actually, scratch that, make it four; my Sanji alarm is going off.

Sanji twirls around carrying a slice of cake and a cup of tea spouting some cheesy poetry before presenting the food to Robin. Robin calmly thanks him, which I must admit, is pretty new. But that doesn't mean that he's not going to get a shock for it if this keeps up. We're _way_ behind on his therapy!

Usopp is the next to fall victim to Robin's charm as he gets into how her much fun her extra hands are to play with. Man, she's got us all down pat! Zoro sighs and moves to the back of the ship. Robin stands up, placing me gently on the table near Sanji who's still got his heart eyes on before she follows Zoro.

"She's amazing and with an adult charm!" Sanji swoons. "Much different than Nami!"

And our therapy resumes _now_. My tail touches Sanji and I give him a shock.

I need some quiet time; this day has been one disaster after another! I trot to the front of the ship and leap onto Merry's head, lying down and soaking up the sun.

"That band...that belonged to Decimal, did it not?"

I shoot up at Robin's voice and turn to see her standing behind me, staring at the band wrapped around my tail. I forgot I still had it on; I'm already that used to the feeling. I give her a wary look and nod; I only wish I could tell her that his name wasn't Decimal.

"Decimal was a very loyal companion," Robin says. "I saw how you worked together to fight Crocodile." My eyes widen; so she did see. Robin glances at the band, "I'm sure if he was still with us, he would've joined you on your quest as well; I could tell how much he trusted you."

I lower my gaze as a lump starts to form in my throat; I know that's true without a doubt. Luffy would probably accept him just as easily as Robin, though I'm sure Sanji would need some special convincing if that were the case.

A sad smile comes to my face and Robin gives me a soft pat, "Know that you aren't the only one who will truly miss him," she says, giving me a sincere smile. "He may have been Crocodile's most trusted, but I still considered him a good friend." I stare at Robin; I never expected her to be so profound, especially when it came to Sandy.

"I know you'll put that band to good use." Robin says, starting to walk away. "I can already tell that his spirit resides in you."

I watch Robin go, unconsciously touching my band. Sandy's spirit resides in me...yeah, that sounds about right. Even now...I can almost feel him next to me. I watch as Robin sits back in her chair on deck and stares out at the sea, a small smile pulling at my face.

Maybe having her onboard won't be so bad.

* * *

The next day, we stop at another island, this one thankfully uninhabited. It looks like a giant pineapple, and as to be expected, it's full of pineapples. I'm already looking forward to dinner; I wonder what kind of food Sanji can make with pineapples?

Chopper and I are left in charge of the ship while the others go off to either collect pineapples or help Nami measure the island so she can add it to her map. It's the first time I've really seen Nami giddy about something that isn't related to money. I kinda reminds me of when Sanji talks about the All Blue.

I'm not expecting anything dangerous to come along and neither is Chopper so he's not too worried about being left here. "Hey, I'm gonna make some more Rumble Balls, okay?" Chopper says, heading inside.

My ears twitch and I follow; I forgot that Chopper is the one invented those things. He looks at me when he notices me following and I point to myself, "Pikachu?"

"You want to help?" Chopper asks, understanding the simple question. I nod and Chopper smiles, "Okay, c'mon!"

We go inside and Chopper gathers all the necessary ingredients. I watch intently as he carefully measures out the right herbs and medicine to ground up before forming them into those familiar Rumble Balls.

"This takes me back…" Chopper says wistfully. He then tells me how he created the Rumble Ball purely by accident. He was playing around with Doctorine's medicines and ended up putting a whole bunch together when he got caught. That sounds like something Chopper would do. "I got a good scolding from Doctorine that day." He says. "I wonder how she's doing? Maybe I should write her a letter."

"Pika!" I agree with a nod. I think she would really like that.

Just then, Chopper's nose twitches as well as mine as the scent of coffee fills the air. We turn around to see a familiar figure sitting patiently near the back of the room. Looks like we both forgot about one tiny detail: Robin is on the ship too.

Seriously, she's so quiet and reserved it's actually hard to remember that she's technically a part of our crew now. But then again, her being here is like a breath of fresh air. She's not a crazy or cowardly lunatic like Luffy, Usopp or Chopper, or a hothead with weird quirks like Nami or Sanji. She's the most calm and serene person I've ever seen; it's like she doesn't have a care in the world.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that she's been a wanted criminal since she was a kid. Having a life like that would probably desensitize you to a lot. She may not be big on the trust meter with most of us right now, especially with Chopper and Zoro, but I don't think we have anything to fear.

If she wanted to kill us she would've done it already, and she made it clear that she owed Luffy for saving her back in Alabasta. And, well...she was Sandy's friend. That's reason enough for me to at least give her a chance.

Anyway, Chopper accidently spills all the water we have in a frightened stupor due to Robin's mysterious aura. I know how it feels to not trust people but I feel like this is overdoing it; she was just making coffee after all. And so, the three of us end up walking on the island to restock the water. As we walk, Robin is silent for a good while until-

"What a nice day."

Chopper jumps and nearly topples over; geez, someone's on edge. "You scared me to death!" Chopper accuses. "What's wrong?!"

"Nothing. Just commenting on the beautiful day." Robin answers, not at all fazed by the outburst. I'm starting to think nothing can scare this person. "I've been wanting to take a walk like this for a long time; it's been awhile since I've felt peace like this." Robin continues as we walk on. "In the past it seemed like I was always too wound up from repressing my emotions; I never really had a chance to smile."

Well, I guess having to work for criminals to survive would require you to hide your true feelings. We reach the top of a hill where a giant pond is sitting, sparkling in the sunlight. I jump onto Robin's shoulder to get a better view and she smiles at me. I return the smile and continue looking at the sight; it really is beautiful, especially combined with the weather. This would be the perfect day to go for a swim!

Chopper starts gathering the water and Robin sits on the shore, admiring the flowers. Now that I think about it, Robin kind of reminds me of a flower; elegant, standing tall, and always going with the flow no matter what.

I offer to help Chopper with the water, but he says he can do it. He looks at Robin, "Um, didn't you say that you've been alone since you were eight?" He asks.

"That's right." Robin says, smelling a flower. "I spent most of my youth following pirates and I barely survived." It's like dying is no big deal to her; yeah, she's gonna fit in with the others just fine.

"Alright, your turn." Robin says, looking at Chopper. "Tell me about this Doctorine person you were talking about earlier. Is she your mentor?"

Chopper slowly smiles at the memory of her, "Yeah, sort of; I owe a great debt to her." Chopper goes on to tell us a little about what it was like learning under Doctorine. Apparently it was no cake-walk, as Chopper had to memorize tons of medical books and journals; knowing Doctorine, I'm not surprised that it was rough.

However, the real test came when Chopper had to treat his very first patient, which was Doctorine herself. It was after that that Chopper realized how important and risky the life of a doctor is. The injured and sick place their trust and lives in their doctor's hands (or hooves) and the doctor must do whatever they can to help their patient.

That explains why Chopper is so protective of whoever he's treating, like when Sanji and I were attacked by Wapol and his men.

 _"No one attacks my patients while they're recovering!"_

I smile at the memory; all the humans I hang around really are amazing. Yeah, I know Chopper's a reindeer, but like I said to him back then, I consider him human too, way more human than me. I'm the only non-human in the crew; I accepted that a long time ago.

Once the story is done and the water is gathered we all head back to the ship. The others all make it back around sunset, but only Zoro succeeded in getting any pineapples. Never thought I'd see the day where Zoro did the best job on his chores. Luffy, I expected to screw up, but Usopp? I expected at least something.

Everyone talks and laughs as we eat when my attention is drawn to Robin. She hasn't said a word since the others got back and she's been sitting and reading for hours. I finish my pineapple and slip away from the others before making my way over to Robin. I slowly approach her so I don't accidentally disturb her.

Once I arrive she looks down at me, "Hello." She greets. "Do you need something?" I shyly point to her book and she understands. "Do you want to know what I'm reading?" She asks. I nod and she smiles. "It's about an anomaly known as the Rainbow Mist." She says, showing the cover a bit more clearly. "It's a rare mist that ships have been disappearing into for hundreds of years, and no one seems to know what's inside or why ships don't return from it."

My ears perk up in interest. That sounds really cool. I leap up onto the arm of Robin's chair and glance at the page she's on. On the page is a drawing of a big cloud of rainbow mist, hovering over the ocean.

I smile at the picture and Robin looks at me, "Would you like to join me?" She asks. I look up at her and nod. I move into her lap and Robin points to where she was reading on the page.

We both read the page, almost in synch since we rarely have to wait for the other to catch up before turning a page. It's really not as boring as it sounds since we don't just read in silence. Occasionally, I'll point out something that sounds confusing or interesting and Robin will either explain it the best she can or give her own opinion, sometimes asking for my own.

As the fire still burns brightly in the background, Robin and I continue reading late into the night. I look up at her as I feel a small spot of warmth from inside; a budding bond of trust.

Yeah, I think having Robin as our new crewmate really won't be that bad.

* * *

 ***announcer voice* And today, the maiden voyage of our brand new vessel, the Robin & Pika-chan Nakamaship, finally begins; who knows what kind of interactions this ship will encounter! XD **


	54. Luluka

**The Rainbow Mist arc is one of those few filler arcs that I go into thinking it won't be that interesting but I end up getting totally blown away. Same can be said for the Ice Cave filler and the Memory Loss filler (oh yeah, I cannot WAIT to get to those!)**

 **And remember, if I'm skipping any filler that you really want to see (Like Zenny or the one with Tajeo and the curry), just let me know and I'll put it 'Perks of the Smallest'!**

* * *

I'm starting to think that karma loves screwing with us when it comes to Marines. It's like everywhere we go, just when it seems like we can just relax and float on the ocean, cannon fire always has to interrupt us! This time it's especially bad because not only is the wind not at our back forcing us to use the paddles again, but Luffy's apparently too tired to help because he hasn't had his daily meats. Ah well, we'll berate him once we're safe.

I gaze out from the back of the ship, hoping to stay out of everyone's way. It's times like this that I really envy Chopper; he can turn big enough to help row, but I can't! Maybe here I can watch and keep any lucky cannonballs away?

Just then one of the ships suddenly collapses right in its place, completely obliterated. "What the heck?" Chopper voices my exact reaction.

"They're shooting at each other?" Zoro wonders. If that's the case, the person who shot that cannon is totally fired (no pun intended).

Usopp laughs, "Ha! I knew those Marines would eventually turn on each other right from the start!" Uh-huh, sure, that's great. Can we get away now please?

"Their formation is collapsing; let's get away while we have a chance!" Nami orders. A little while later, the ships are nowhere in sight and we've entered calmer waters. We're not on open ocean anymore, so we can get our bearings back.

"The Marines sure have been dogging us lately." Usopp comments as he and Robin keep watch from the rear in case any more Marines show up.

"Well, when you have three people with big bounties on their heads, you can't blame them for going all out." Zoro says. Good point. I remember way back when Zoro told me that with Luffy's bounty, things were going to get tougher from here on out.

Geez, we didn't have too much trouble when only Luffy had a bounty, but now with both Zoro and Robin sporting wanted posters, dealing with this on a daily basis could get troublesome real fast. I can only imagine what it will be like if the rest us manage to get bounties, but I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

Well, Sanji might since he's one of our best heavy hitters; he could probably get a pretty big price on his head if he pissed off the right people. Chopper's definitely capable of getting a bounty, but the little guy knows when and how to avoid trouble. Nami and Usopp are pretty much pacifists (that's the nice term) so I doubt they'll be getting bounties anytime soon.

And me? I think it'll be a chilly day in hell when the government decides to deem _me_ a threat. With my appearance and size, they don't even spare me a second glance. And even when I fight Marines, I'm always either adding lightning to Luffy's attacks or running around looking for stragglers to pick off since Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji always manage to take all the fun, being bigger than me.

I will admit though, it would be pretty damn funny if the Marines actually deemed a little mouse like me a legit threat. I can only imagine how people would react to that: 'You mean this cute little thing is a pirate? How could something this small have a bounty? The government must be slacking!'

I guess that's one advantage I've always had up my sleeve. People have always underestimated me, only to get a nasty surprise when I let loose. Maybe me getting a bounty isn't as far a stretch as I'm making it out to be.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts as Chopper yells out, "Hey, I see a harbor!"

Luffy springs up from his special seat. "A harbor? Where?"

"There, next to that lighthouse!" Chopper responds, pointing. I turn and sure enough, an island is coming into view. Oh good, we can rest up and restock here; after being chased by Marines all day, this is a really welcome sight. Unless of course the people here hate pirates, but that's a pretty small chance since pirates are pretty much the norm.

We dock, disembark, leaving a sleeping Zoro to guard the ship, and head up towards the town. "Halt!" We all look up to see some kind of soldier blocking our path. "Here on Luluka, it's required for all visitors to pay all the requisite harbor dues to dock your ship at the harbor or the rocks."

I tilt my head; a tax for docking a ship? What kind of requirement is that? "But if we're going to trade in this city why do we have to pay just to dock here?" Of course Nami would be fishy about a potential waste of money.

My ears twitch as the soldier aims his rifle at her, "Because it's your duty; now pay up!" The soldier orders.

Oh boy, is Sanji- yep, he saw that. Say your prayers, buddy. "Hey, don't talk to the lady like that." Sanji says dangerously, stepping between us and the gun.

"Or what?" The soldier challenges. I reiterate; say your prayers Mr. Soldier.

"FOOOOOOD!" Luffy runs forward, running right over Sanji and the soldier.

"Bastard…" Sanji mutters as he slowly gets up. Luffy waits for nothing and no one, I guess. And he knocked out the soldier, so that's a bonus.

"Alright then, let's go." Nami says with a shrug. "I need to buy some blank paper for maps." I smirk at the excited grin on her face. Sanji, Chopper and I all agree to accompany her and we set off. I'm sure Usopp and Robin will find something to do; maybe they'll run into Luffy. One of us will eventually.

The marketplace is really big and full of different products, and Nami takes full advantage of it. It's not fair; how come she gets to blow money on pointless crap but the rest of us don't? Maybe if she bought her map charts first I'd understand, but nope; all this girly stuff comes first, and Sanji and Chopper have to carry it all. Maybe being small isn't all that bad after all…

"There they are Lake; the ones I told you about!" We all stop as we see a soldier up ahead, looking right at us. Isn't that the guy Luffy ran over?

Shortly after, what I can only describe as a giant metal suit walks up and blocks our path, "So, you're the insolent folks who didn't pay your taxes at the harbor." The machine is made of pure metal and very bulky, with two giant claws where the arms should be. And inside is a person with reddish brown hair and a smug grin. "I'm Lake, the grandson of Mayor Whetton; I'm the one who oversees unpaid taxes so pay up!"

What is up with these guys and taxes?! We don't live here, why are they making such a big deal out of this?! "I don't know what's going on, but you're disturbing the lady's shopping trip." Sanji says with a frown. "Back of pal, or you're gonna get hurt."

I drop off Sanji's shoulder and he raises his leg. Lake charges towards him and Sanji's foot connects with the suit. I suddenly shudder as electricity flows from the suit the moment Sanji makes contact, blowing him back and onto the ground. Nami and Chopper quickly run for cover and I go to Sanji's side, "Pikachu?" _'You okay?'_

"What the hell; when I touched the suit, I got electrocuted!" Sanji exclaims as he gets up.

"You got it!" Lake grins, "That's what happens to anyone foolish enough to touch me!" Hey! Electrocuting Sanji is _my_ job!

"But how?" Nami wonders.

"He must have a Devil Fruit!" Chopper exclaims.

However his claim is quickly contradicted when we spy a bunch of people pedaling a giant metal contraption behind Lake. "A personal generator?!" Well, at least it's not a Devil Fruit…

"Increase output!" Lake orders. "Faster!" The man pedaling speeds up and it isn't long before the two claws are crackling with blue electricity, the whole suit glowing the same color. The electric current becomes so intense that it even affects the air, making our hair and fur stand on end! That's a lot of electricity!

"Maybe we should've paid those taxes…" Nami says weakly.

My eyes are suddenly drawn to the generator, specifically the two giant wires connecting the suit to it. I unconsciously lick my lips and start moving stealthily towards it. I can practically feel the juice running through that thing! I have to chew it! I pounce one of the wires like a Meowth and sink my teeth into it.

"Now I'll give you a real taste of what my Electro Shock Suit can do!" Lake laughs. He puts his claws together, conducting lightning between them. "Rolling Thunder!"

I close my eyes with pleasure as I chew the wire like a Growlithe would a chew toy. I savor the tiny volts of electricity dancing in my mouth.

"Huh? Hey! What's going on back there?!" Lake yells. "Did you stop pedalling?"

"No sir!" The voices snap me out of my daze and I look up, the wire still in my mouth and still being chewed. I guess his attack turned out to be a dud since I'm chewing on the power source. Lake and his henchmen stare at me and I go back to chewing; there's still a ton more juice left in this thing! I finish the first wire and immediately start on the second.

Lake splutters, "Hey! Get away from there! Shoo!" I ignore him and continue to chew the second wire, finishing it off quicker than the last.

"Pika-chan! Let's go!" My ears twitch as I hear Sanji and my three friends start to run. I suck out the last bits of electricity from the wire before hurrying after them. Lake tries to run after, but the wires hold him back before snapping thanks to me, sending him flat on his face.

"Good thinking with the wires Pika-chan." Sanji comments as we run and I jump onto his shoulder.

"Pika!" I chirp happily.

"What gave you that idea? Chewing wires with that much electricity should be dangerous." Chopper says.

I simply smile and lick my lips, "Pikachu!" _'They taste good!'_

My response catches everyone by surprise. "You mean you chewed them just because they tasted good?!" Chopper demands.

"For a mouse that can shoot lightning you just keep getting weirder!" Nami exclaims. I'll take that as a compliment.

"Well, mice are known for chewing wires…" Chopper points out softly.

"Are there any other secrets we should know about?" Sanji teases. Are seriously asking an amnesiac that?

We hurry back to the rocks, but to our horror, the ship is gone! "Pika?"

"Where's the Merry?" Chopper exclaims.

"What could've happened? Zoro was onboard, wasn't he?" Nami says.

"They must've taken him and the ship because we didn't pay the taxes!" Chopper says.

"Lazy bastard probably slept through it all!" Sanji says. Well this is just great, now what are we supposed to do?!

We run back towards the town to try and find Robin, Usopp, and (hopefully) Luffy, however, it isn't long before Lake finds us again. Surprising, considering he has to lug that generator with him everywhere he goes (and he sure replaced those wires fast). He corners us and I jump between him and my friends; this guy uses lightning like me and I have a huge speed advantage, this should be a cakewalk!

"Let's finish this!" Lake yells, lightning coming from his claws again. I growl and get ready to charge when Lake suddenly tips over. Did he just...get hit by something?

A gold coins gently falls to the ground in front of Lake and he spots it as he gets up. "Are you the ones who threw that at me?!" He demands. Uh...are you serious?

"We didn't throw that." Sanji says softly.

"Shouldn't he know that; he was watching us." Nami agrees.

"With a suit like that, we're not trying to make him mad." Chopper adds.

"Answer me; did you throw that?!" Lake repeats.

"And what if we say we did?" Sanji asks, both of us still on alert. Lake doesn't answer and instead pockets the coin. "You're just picking it up?!"

"Pika pikachu!"

Lake looks at us. "Alright, I've collected your harbor taxes." Wait, what? "Now that you've paid, I formally welcome you to the town of Luluka." Are you serious?! That was all the tax was?! One measly coin?! They could've told us that from the start! Well, at least they're not chasing us anymore.

Lake takes off his suit and the soldiers finally relax at not having to pedal anymore. "Well, now that we've paid, would mind returning our ship?" Sanji asks.

Lake looks confused, "Your ship? It sailed off on its own a while ago." He says.

"You mean, you didn't take it?" Chopper asks.

"No; my soldiers reported seeing it enter the Rainbow Mist, so it most likely entered Ape's Concert." Lake answers. My ears perk up; Rainbow Mist? You mean that anomaly Robin and I have been reading about for the past few days? It exists here?

"According to the mayor, there's all sorts of treasure piled up in there." Lake says. Oh no…

"Treasure?" Nami exclaims, money shining in her eyes. I facepalm; the 'Treasure' button has been pressed; I can already see the plotting in her eyes.

"People also say the place is a ship graveyard," Lake continues. "All the shipwrecks apparently have tons of untouched cargo, like jewels and gold and stuff; the mayor wants the treasure so he's got a scientist named Henzo researching a way to get in, and he's also the guy who made my suit; isn't it cool?" Okay okay, we get it! Shut up already!

"Is it just me or does he talk a lot?" Chopper asks softly.

"No, it's almost like he's still trying to punish us for not paying." Sanji agrees. Just say the word, and I'll take care of him.

"Alright, we can't waste time laying around here!" Nami says suddenly. "We're going into that mist too, so let's get moving!"

"Yes sir, Nami dear!" Sanji chirps happily. I sigh in annoyance; time for another round of jumping through flaming hoops in space.

"But once we go in there's no coming back out!" Chopper cries.

"This is no time to be scared; that treasure is waiting for us!" Nami retorts.

"I don't think so; nobody goes into Ape's Concert without my permission." A new voices says. We all turn to see a bunch of soldiers carrying a shaded throne where an elderly man with a strange cane is sitting inside.

"Grandpa!" Lake exclaims, only to get a smack with the cane.

"Idiot, how many times do I have to tell you?" The old man says roughly, "You're to address me as Mayor Whetton." Oh good, the mayor's here; those flaming hoops just got ten times hotter.

* * *

Once Mayor Whetton showed his face, I could tell, everything was gonna go downhill. The second he arrived, a soldier pointed out that the Rainbow Mist was back. And sure enough, it was. I have to admit, it looks just like how the book described. Right when it appeared, a giant ship emerged from the mist and Mayor ordered some soldiers to go out in boats and retrieve it. As they did so, multiple other soldiers came on the scene as well as a few passing civilians, and we stood in the middle of it all.

We listen as the Mayor reminisces that that large ship was actually his fifty years ago, and it was inside the Rainbow Mist all that time. Now that it's back, it means that Ape's Concert's opening has come back. But that doesn't really explain why the ship even came back. I thought that whatever went in never came back out.

Nami, however, sees a completely different picture, "So basically, it's now or never if we want to find a way to get the treasure." She says.

"Yes that's right." Mayor says before standing abruptly, "Wait! How do you know about the treasure?!"

"Your grandson told us about it; he was quite helpful!" Nami answers and Lake gets a good slug in the face. "It must try one's patience having such a dim-witted family." she muses.

Sanji, Chopper and I all nod; we should know better than anyone. On second thought, I wouldn't know…

"Acting sympathetic won't help you any!" Mayor snaps. "However, now that you know the secret of Ape's Concert I cannot afford to let you leave." My ears droop as multiple soldiers ready their rifles.

"You intend to silence us, is that it?" Sanji asks.

"No, but you're going to pay a secret tax." Mayor answers with a sick grin. "No less than ten million berries for each of you!"

"CHUUUU?!" I exclaim.

"YOU'RE KIDDING ME!" Sanji yells.

"THAT'S WAY TOO MUCH!" Nami agrees.

"WHAT KIND OF TAX EVEN IS THAT?!" Chopper demands.

"So you can't pay?" Mayor asks. "Tax Collectors!" He slams his staff and some soldiers appear, playing a drum roll. An older man comes to the front of the crowd, but he's not as old as Mayor.

"Daddy!" Lake exclaims.

We all sweatdrop, "Daddy?"

"Pikachu?"

"Take these four to the Rainbow Tower and put them to work." Mayor orders, gesturing to us.

"What's a Rainbow Tower?" Sanji asks.

"That is." Mayor answers, pointing his staff towards the big lighthouse looking building in the distance. "You will work off your debt on that tower for the rest of your lives." He turns to the Lake's dad. "Get going Philip."

However, Philip is looking out to sea. "Oh! It looks like the Rainbow MIst has returned, Father!" He exclaims. "Now we can finally retrieve all our treasure from Ape's Concert!"

"He just gave it all away again…" Chopper comments with a frown as Mayor puts Philip in a choke hold.

"Secrets sure don't mean much to them." Sanji agrees.

"What a shame; they're three generations of idiots." Nami says with a shrug.

"Pika." I agree with a solemn nod. Real shame indeed. Anyway, it looks like they decide to wait on taking us to the tower because Lake orders the soldiers to get them a Transponder Snail, saying that they're going to contact this Henzo guy who is apparently studying the mist for them.

The snail rings but almost instantly, a familiar voice comes out of the receiver. "Yeah, hello? Who is this?" Oh hey, Luffy, nice to finally hear from you.

Sanji grabs the receiver during the confusion, "Hey Luffy, it's us."

"Where the heck did you guys go?" Chopper asks.

Nami snatches the receiver from Sanji, "You just ran off with our ship?! You put the rest of us in a pretty sticky situation, you know!"

"Pika pika!" I say.

We hear a few voices in the background when a new voice rings clear, "Is this the outside world? Philip are you there?"

Philip grabs the receiver back, "Yes, Philip here! What's your location, Professor Henzo?"

"I'm currently inside the Rainbow Mist." Henzo responds. So Luffy and the others really are inside the mist… "I'm afraid we're unable to escape at the moment," Henzo continues. "Someone needs to equip the Safety Gear I made to come rescue us and tell Whetton-" There's a noise on the other end, and the snail goes silent.

"What do we do now?" Chopper asks.

"Isn't it obvious?" Nami asks. "We go inside the mist!"

"Now just a minute." Mayor says. "I already told you; you can't go without my permi-"

Nami ignores him and goes up to Lake, "Hey there," she says sweetly. "Where's this safety gear that this Henzo mentioned?"

"Uh, here." Lake says bashfully, handing her a large box.

"Thank you!" Nami responds and we run off.

"Thanks a lot!"

"Pika pika!"

We run along the harbor and we quickly hear the soldiers start to chase after us. "And here I thought they would let us run off peacefully into the sunset!" Sanji comments.

"Pikachu." I say with a shrug. _'Can't win 'em all.'_

We spy a small lifeboat and decide to use that. Sanji, Chopper and I step towards the approaching soldiers while Nami gets ready. "Get going Nami!" Chopper says, turning to Heavy Point.

"Got it; I'll take care of Luffy and the treasure." Nami says. I grimace at her as she gets money in her eyes again. I think I should be concerned for the other's safety… Just as the soldiers close in, my ears twitch. Oh boy, that doesn't feel good…

A shadow looms over us and Nami shrieks as a giant sea serpent rises out of the ocean right next to us. Oh for the love of Arceus, why us?

* * *

 **The second I saw that Electro Suit I just smiled evilly and went, 'I know what Pika-chan's gonna be doing~!' Don't worry, Pika-chan is totally gonna get more of a fight against that thing next chapter because I see filler like this as a perfect opportunity to make flesh out OCs and give them more BAMF!moments since you don't have to worry about disturbing the canon timeline X3**


	55. Rainbow Mist

We all jump out of the way as the sea serpent takes a good bite out of the harbor and Nami takes the opportunity to start rowing. My eyes widen as the sea serpent spots Nami and starts going after her. I don't think so!

I quickly jump into the air and unleash a huge lightning attack. The serpent screeches in pain as its wet scales make my electricity even more painful and when I'm done, it falls into the water with a crash, burned to a crisp. "Pika pikachu!" _'Take that, you overgrown fishstick!'_ I yell.

Nami sighs in relief and deflates in the boat, "That was too close…"

"Nice shot, partner." Sanji comments.

"Pikachu!" I chirp, giving a salute.

"Now that that's over, let's see what this safety gear is." Nami says, picking up the box. Inside is a lifeline, and a super long one. Not what I was expecting, but hey, it could be useful. She throws the end of the lifeline to us with her Climatact and we tie it to Chopper's wrist.

"Alright, I'm heading into the mist." Nami says. "When I give you the signal, reel the line back in!"

"Pika!" I say with a nod.

"You got it Nami!" Chopper chimes in, waving. Nami starts rowing, and in a few minutes, she's vanished into the mist.

"Alright, Chopper, Pika-chan, until she gets back we're not letting anyone touch this rope, got it?" Sanji says.

"Got it!"

"Pika!"

However, we turn around as Mayor snaps his fingers. A bunch of soldiers approach him and put up a few curtains, blocking our view of him. "What now?" Sanji demands.

A few moments later, the curtains disappear, revealing the Mayor, wearing another suit. It looks kinda like that lightning suit Lake was wearing but I feel no electricity in the air. "Flame Suit!" Uh-oh...

We watch as soldiers begin pumping fuel through a giant tube into the suit. My nose twitches as I smell gasoline. "I'll burn the flesh right off your bones!" Mayor yells and raises one of the robot's arms, which has a nozzle on the end. We scatter like crazy as a pillar of flames shoots from the suit; great, first lightning and now this?

I barely manage to avoid the flames, only escaping with my fur lightly singed, but Sanji and Chopper aren't as lucky, being bigger. I spy Lake putting on his Electro suit as well; just peachy. ...Actually, this might work to my advantage. I just have to make sure Sanji and Chopper-

I'm cut off as Chopper screams in pain, falling to the ground, having been hit by the Electro suit. "Chopper!" Sanji goes to his side and Philip steps up. He holds up some kind of cannon and shoots a large net out of it. It wraps around Sanji and Chopper, completely tangling them.

My eyes widen as Mayor steps up to them; I have to help! My eyes fall on the tube pumping fuel into the suit; it may not be electric, but it's bound to work! I quickly run over to the tube with no one noticing. This is gonna taste nasty, but it has to be done!

I sink my teeth into the coil and give it a good hard rip. Fuel sprays from the broken tube and I spit out the foul taste it leaves in my mouth; my job's not done yet! I quickly move to the back of the mayor's suit. I harden my tail and aim right for the two glass cylinders on the back of the suit. I give a good hard swing and land on the top of the suit as the cylinders shatter, spilling fuel everywhere.

"What?!" Mayor exclaims as no flames shoot at Sanji or Chopper. I give him a smug salute and run towards my friends.

"Pika-chan!" Chopper exclaims happily.

"Pika!" I chirp and I start gnawing on the net. There's a few snaps, and Sanji and Chopper are free.

"Thanks partner." Sanji says, giving me a pat.

"Lake! Eliminate those punks, now!" Mayor yells.

"Right!" I perk up as Lake stomps towards us in his suit, lightning crackling from the claws. "Men, guard the generator!" Lake orders. "We don't want any pests chewing the wires!" Soldiers surround the generator, blocking my view from the wires but I don't even flinch. I can take down electricity based things without having to chew wires, especially if it's this guy.

"Take this! Rolling Thunder!" Lake yells. He swings his claws and two decent sized blue lightning bolts shoot towards us. I raise my tail and the blue lightning swerves right towards me. I blink as the lightning hits me and I easily absorb it making everyone's eyes widen. "What the-?" Lake sputters. "What happened to my attack?!"

I grin, "Pika pikachu!" _'I told you before; electrocuting my crewmates is **my** job!'_

Sanji grins in relief, "I almost forgot about that tail of yours."

I nod and step towards Lake. "Pika pika!" I say to Sanji and Chopper, gesturing for them to get back.

"C'mon Sanji!" Chopper says getting up. "It's saying to get back!" Oh good, I managed to make it through Chopper's language barrier this time. I turn to Sanji and nod; no need to worry, I'll make easy prey out of both these guys! To my surprise, Sanji doesn't protest and nods back; I guess he's finally starting to trust me to fight on my own!

Sanji gets up and the two of them move out of harm's way while I direct my attention back to Lake. "I don't know how you did that...but I won't miss this time!" Lake growls. He puts his claws together again and I start to run towards him, a plan already in my mind. "Rolling Thunder!" Lake shoots two more lightning bolts at me but I don't even have to dodge. I simply raise my tail and take the lightning in, not at all hindered.

I grin at Lake's dumbfounded expression and leap towards him. I latch right onto the front of the Shock Suit and I immediately feel the lightning coming off it. I simply stay put and allow the electricity to wash over me, the feeling not at all painful to me. "I-Increase output!" Lake cries. "Faster! Faster!" The men oblige and I feel the electric current increase.

My grin only grows wider as I keep absorbing the lightning like a sponge. "Faster! Maximum output!" Lake yells desperately and my smile grows wider. That's right, keep feeding me energy; this electricity is nothing compared to the lightning I have to deal with on the Grand Line!

"You useless whelp!" My ears twitch as I hear Mayor's voice. I turn slightly and see that the soldiers are finishing up replacing the tube and the cylinders I smashed. I frown as Mayor points one of his flame nozzles at me, "I'll make quick work of you, dirty rat!" Uh, are you sure you wanna do that?

No one puts the pieces together and a stream of flames shoots towards me. I quickly push off the suit and jump straight up into the air, letting the flames envelop Lake. It ends after a few seconds and I land back on the suit, absorbing the still present electricity. "Hmph! I won't miss this time!" Mayor growls and takes aim again.

Lake waves his arms frantically, "No, grandpa wait!" I jump again and the flames hit Lake. I land back on the suit, keeping my balance as Lake begins to waver.

"Hold still, dammit!" Mayor yells, and the process repeats. Three generations of idiots; this is just sad. As I dodge, I keep absorbing all the electricity the suit is still giving off every time I land. Just a little more...almost there...just a little bit...done!

I finally leap off the suit and land on the ground in front of everyone. Mayor and Lake stare at me, their mouths agape in horror and shock (no pun intended). My body is completely surrounded with blue electricity making my fur stick up and my body almost glow. Man, I'm really charged up now! Mayor has the same dumbfounded expression while Philip and the soldiers are starting to back away in fear.

"W-What are you?!" Lake exclaims. "S-Some kind of yellow demon?!" Hm, I kinda like the sound of that. But in the meantime, let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine! I jump into the air, the newly received electricity eager to be released. I send the Whettons a triumphant glare and let loose.

The entire area lights up with blue electricity as all the volts all come together and hit the whole army with the force of a brick wall. There's a loud explosion, and the lightning fades; I land on the ground, back to normal. I open my eyes and...oh wow.

I might have gone a _tad_ overboard. Yeah, both suits are completely destroyed having been overloaded with electricity, but the entire area looks like it was hit by a fireball. Chunks of stone from walls litter the ground and there are big patches of flames where the spilled flame fuel was ignited.

The soldiers and Philip are all burnt to a crisp too, and neither Mayor or Lake are making any sounds in the ruins of their suits. I turn around to see Sanji and Chopper a good distance away and unharmed, but they look a bit rattled from the sudden display.

"Geez, that was close…" Sanji breathes.

"Maybe next time warn us when you're going to use an attack that big?" Chopper squeaks.

I rub the back of my head and smile sheepishly, "Pika pi…" _'Eheheh...sorry…'_

We approach the fallen army, making sure that no other soldiers are around, but it looks like we're finally in the clear. "Well, that takes care of them." Sanji says, giving the Mayor's flame suit a little kick.

"Yeah, but what about the mist?" Chopper asks. Just then, a tug comes from the line around Chopper's wrist. We all look at the string before immediately looking out towards the Rainbow Mist to see the shadow of a small boat emerging.

"It's Nami!" Chopper exclaims.

"She made it!" Sanji agrees in relief. Unfortunately, as the boat gets closer, we realize that's not the case. It's Nami's boat, but Nami's not in it; it's some random guy. I mentally slap myself; that book said that the mist has been sucking up ships for years! Of course there would be other people in there! I have to remember to bring up the stuff Robin and I read about in the future.

The boat reaches the harbor and the man inside stares at the sight of the burned soldiers and suits. "What the... what the hell happened here?!" He exclaims. He gets out of the boat and spies Lake inside his suit, "Captain? Captain, is that you?!" Sanji steps up and gives the man a sharp kick to his chest, knocking him to the ground. "Ow! What the hell-" He cuts himself off as the three of us hover over him, our eyes gleaming dangerously.

"Hey there," Sanji says, taking a drag. "That's our friend's boat you've got there; mind telling us where you got it?" Chopper clenches his fists and sparks fly from my cheeks; this guy is in for the interrogation of his life.

* * *

It doesn't take long for our intimidation to make the guy spill the beans. Apparently, he was part of Whetton's pirate crew (the man was a pirate; figures) and he and the ship got sucked into the Rainbow Mist fifty years ago. I remember that the book said a little something about how the mist is an anomaly of space and time so I guess that's not too big a stretch.

From his descriptions, the Merry and our crewmates are in there, and he swore he didn't hurt Nami or any of them so I guess he gets to live another day; in other words, he just gets a kick to the face. Well, know that that's out of the way, now what do we do? Well, now that we know this safety line works I guess one of us could go in and lead the Merry out?

"Sanji! The mist!" Chopper cries. "It's disappearing!" Sanji and I turn to the mist and sure enough, it's quickly fading away. It's gone before we can even properly react. Now what do we do?!

"Pika-chan," I look up at Sanji's dangerous tone. "Why don't you wake up our beloved Mayor Whetton; maybe he has something to say about this." Translation: He better have something to say about this or he and his family aren't even gonna pass as fish food when we're done with them.

I nod and walk over to the destroyed flame suit. I activate Brick Break and easily smash the remains of the suit, leaving the Mayor behind and I quickly follow up with a short but sharp lightning attack. Mayor wakes up with a start and sits up abruptly despite being completely covered with burns thanks to me. He looks at me and I give a low growl; to my surprise he actually yelps and backs away from me in pure fear. Huh, guess I'm more intimidating than I thought.

Sanji and Chopper stand on either side of him, cutting off any avenue of escape for him and we all glare at him. "Hey, our friends were somewhere inside that mist." Sanji says. "Would you like to explain what happened to them?" Mayor shakes on the ground and doesn't say a word.

"Answer me!" Sanji growls. "Or do you want an encore of Pika-chan's lightning?" I step forward with a growl, more sparks flying from my cheeks, sending a chill down the Mayor's spine.

"You better not think that you can get away with assaulting the Mayor like this!" Mayor says, desperation now easily coating his voice. "The tax for hitting the Mayor is 90 million berries!" I send a small bolt towards him, making him jump nearly a foot in the air; if I hear the word 'taxes' one more time, I'm gonna make sure all these Whetton guys are nothing but ash!

Sanji shrugs, "Doesn't bother me; pirates aren't exactly paying citizens."

"Tell us what happened to our friends!" Chopper snaps. "The mist is gone, so where are they now?!"

To our horror, Mayor begins to laugh, "There's nothing you can do; they're stuck in Ape's Concert forever and they're never coming back out!"

My growling grows louder and electricity begins to surround my body; I am _this_ close to committing first degree murder and I really don't care! But before I can, something catches my eye. I look up in the sky to see a familiar rainbow color appearing above the island. "Pikachu!" I exclaim, pointing towards it.

Everyone looks up as the Rainbow Mist appears and a giant whirlwind begins to blow around the island. We watch as a tiny object makes itself known and we eventually spy a familiar goat head. No way...it's the Merry!

The Merry flies out of the mist, making a few turns on the wind before it's practically flung out of the wind. It flies well over the buildings until it lands in the ocean with a loud crash. I cringe as the mast fully tips over and Merry's head flies off, floating in the water nearby; how much abuse can that poor ship take?

We then turn back to the mist as it seems like the wind has changed direction. Now it feels like the mist is pulling things in. We watch as the Mayor's house is easily pulled up into the mist, leaving tons of collected money floating in the air. The suction even reaches down to where we are and in a matter of moments, the Rainbow Tower is flying into the mist as well, never to be seen again.

I love it when bastards like Whetton get their just desserts. We turn back to the harbor to be greeted by six figures climbing out of the ocean, all alive and unharmed.

"Nami!" Sanji cheers.

"You guys!" Chopper exclaims.

"Pika pi!"

We run towards them but skid to a halt as Nami gives Sanji a hard punch to the head. "I'm so annoyed, I could scream!" She growls as she storms away.

"But why, Nami dear?" Sanji whimpers from the ground. Geez, he didn't even do anything this time…

"All the treasure on the ship got blown away." Usopp whispers. "She isn't taking it very well, so I would steer clear for now." Yes sir, steering clear as of now! Just then, a loud cannon fires.

"Alright pirates, that's far enough!" Oh for the love of Arceus…

"Marines!" Sanji exclaims.

"And it's the same ones who were chasing us!" Usopp adds. This day has been the biggest disaster ever! Yeah, even more than Clockwork Island! It's that bad!

Mayor leaps at the chance and tries to pin everything on us, but this particular Marine captain doesn't seem to care… in fact, it's like he knows this guy! We all watch in amazement as he and his assisting officers arrest the entire Whetton family for their crimes of piracy that they have been guilty of for fifty years.

Wow, karma's really cutting us a break here.

The rest of what happens becomes just a blur of confusion to me; something about these Marines being the old friends of this Henzo guy the others were in the mist with and they somehow ended up somewhere else fifty years ago because they blew up a ship to help the Merry escape and they somehow ended up with the Marines- agh! My head hurts just thinking about it! I'm asking Robin for the details later; she's the only one who could possibly make sense of all this!

"Oh, I may have forgotten to mention this to the Straw Hats, but you're all under arrest." The Marines captain says suddenly making us all start.

"You're heartless!" Usopp cries. I take it back, screw you karma!

"As a Marine I'm charged with upholding justice; I can't just let a pirate with a bounty on his head get away." The captain says. "However...it can't be!" He suddenly blurts out frantically. "Right now we have to take Whetton and his crew into custody but that will give the Straw Hats time to slip away!" Uh...what the hell? "Should we request for assistance? No, they won't arrive until tomorrow or the next day at the earliest, giving them more time to get away! There's nothing we can do!"

And with that the Captain runs away in a stressed frenzy. "Very convincing…" Everyone mutters.

"Pika…?" I ask, tilting my head. I think my mind is close to the breaking point…

* * *

The next day, Professor Henzo and his associates help to rebuild the Merry. Not perfectly, but enough to keep the water out. We get our supplies and we bid farewell to Luluka, setting sail. Sheesh, after that fiasco, what else can the Grand Line throw at us?

I stand on the railing in front of Zoro who's lifting weights while the others stand at the front of the ship. "You know, that mist place was pretty awesome." Luffy says from his spot on Merry's head.

"Um, I think I've had enough of that ship graveyard." Nami says.

"I'm not saying I wanna live there, it would just be cool to visit." Luffy amends.

"I can't believe you enjoyed that!" Chopper exclaims. Yeah, do you know how much you stressed us out? I flinch as something falls on my head. I look around but I see nothing but a pebble falling into the ocean.

Zoro stops lifting his weights and looks at me, "Feel something?"

I shudder and my ears twitch as I glance around; I don't know what, but something's up. I leap off the railing and look around, my ears still twitching. "Pika pi!" I say, catching the others attention. I want everyone on guard in case something happens.

"What's up, Pika-chan?" Sanji asks. I flinch as another pebble falls on my nose followed by many others raining onto the ship.

"Rain?" Zoro asks.

"No, this isn't rain." Sanji answers. We all look up as the pebbles get bigger and get mixed with larger and larger bits of debris as a shadow looms over us.

Oh, it's a falling ship.

...WAIT WHAT?!

* * *

 **Hands down, best cliffhanger in the entire series of One Piece XD**

 **BAMF!Pika-chan is officially my favorite Pika-chan to write!**


	56. Salvaging

**Alright, time to officially enter the Skypiea saga, the fandoms (and mine) most well known and fav arcs! Trust me, I can't wait to get to Sky Island myself because ooooooh man, do I have plans for that place! It's gonna be awesome!**

* * *

We all look up as the pebbles get bigger and get mixed with larger and larger bits of debris as a shadow looms over us. Oh, it's a falling ship.

...WAIT WHAT?!

We all scream as a giant ship falls into the ocean with a huge crash. The waves immediately rise, dangerously rocking the ship. "Grab hold of something!" Zoro yells.

I'm thrown nearly three feet into the air from the wave and I slam right into Sanji's chest. Sanji wraps an arm around me and we all grapple for something solid.

"Why are there ships falling from the sky?!" Nami shrieks.

"I know! This is all just a bad dream!" Usopp says.

"Great, I love dreams!" Chopper exclaims as they're thrown this way and that. More and more debris rains down on us, all of it big enough to cause some decent damage if we're hit directly.

"It won't stop falling!" Sanji exclaims, covering me as best he can with his arms. I squeal and cover my head with my paws, hoping that nothing too big falls on us.

"The rudder, turn the rudder!" Nami yells.

"That'll never work in these waves!" Zoro argues.

"Luffy, you've gotta protect the ship; she's taking a beating!" Sanji yells.

"Right!"

Luffy's about to spring into action when he sees Usopp. I peek out from Sanji's arms to see him sitting with his legs folded on the deck, "I cast aside my worries and reach deep within to find my happy place."

"Pika pikachu!" _'It's gonna take more than a happy place to forget about this!'_

Usopp opens his eyes and lets out a scream as something floppy and dirty falls onto him. "A skeleton dead guy!"

My eyes widen as he's right; it's a skeleton! Usopp tosses it at Nami, "Don't throw that thing at me, you idiot!" She screams.

Sanji and I both cringe as another slams onto the railing, staring at us with empty eyes before slipping into the ocean and we both yelp as another lands dangerously close to us. "They're falling everywhere!" We all move around frantically as more and more skeletons fall around us along with more debris.

"I'm surrounded by dead people!" Usopp moans.

"When is this stuff gonna stop falling?!" Nami yells.

"Pika pika!"

* * *

After what feels like forever, the commotion finally dies down. No more debris and the fallen ship is safely sinking into the ocean. "Okay, how did a ship fall from the sky?" Luffy asks.

"Captain error?" Sanji tries.

Zoro shrugs, "The sky's clear, so who knows."

"I knew coming to the Grand Line was a bad idea!" Usopp whimpers as he and Chopper cling to each other. "First we sail over a ship graveyard and now they're falling out of the sky with skeletons!"

"Pikaaaaa…" I whine, drooping over Usopp's head. I know Grand Line weather is unpredictable but c'mon! Freaking ships and skeletons raining from the sky?! For all we know next we could be _eaten_ by a ship full of _zombies_! Or it could rain candy! At this point, I'm willing to believe anything!

"Oh no!" I perk up as I hear Nami. "The Log Pose is broken; it's pointing at the sky!" Oh man, did it get hit by some wood during the scuffle?

"It's not broken." Robin speaks up. "The needle is reflecting a strong magnetic pull, and if it's pointing towards the sky, then it must be pointing towards Sky Island."

Wait what?!

"Sky Island?!"

"Pikachu?!" I listen intently as Robin explains that there's an entire ocean up in the sky, where islands inhabit the clouds. Holy crap, does that mean there are people living in the sky? What I would give to see that!

"Alright!" Luffy exclaims. "Raise the sails and set a course for Sky Island!"

"Point the rudder down and face the helm towards the sky!" Usopp adds.

I roll my eyes and Robin makes hands appear to give them a smack. "Did it just hit you that we can't, you know, fly?" Sanji asks flatly.

"Pikachu…" I shrug helplessly.

"To be honest, I've only ever heard of Sky Island through rumors, I've never actually seen it." Robin says.

"Of course not!" Nami says. "Because it's a lie, islands don't float in the sky; our Log Pose is broken, that's all."

"Not quite, Miss Navigator." Robin responds. "No matter how illogical of a situation we finds ourselves in, you must never doubt the Log Pose and it's pointing to an island, I bet my life on it."

After that, Robin decides to take a look at the skeleton that fell onto our ship, while Luffy and Usopp check out the remains of the ship. I watch in amazement as Robin carefully puts the broken skull back together expertly, until the entire thing is fixed good as new.

I listen as she examines the skull and deduces that the holes in its skull were from removing a tumor and that the man was probably in his early thirties on his voyage before dying. She then puts together that this man was with an exploratory party since his teeth were healthy using methods from the South Blue.

A few moments later, she pulls out a book and finds the ship that fell on us, which was an exploratory vessel launched from the South Blue over 200 years ago. Holy crap, she found all that out from a skull?! That's amazing!

I guess we'll be able to find more info on the ship, but the ship's already sunk and Luffy is currently drowning. "What the hell are you doing?! You know you can't swim!" Nami yells.

After we fish him out, Luffy is smiling like he just found a boatload of meat. "I did it!" He cheers. "I found the best thing ever!" He holds up a roll of paper and unfolds it revealing a map, but not just any map.

"A map of the Sky Island?!" Wow, lucky find!

Nami takes it and examines it, "It's called Skypiea?" I jump onto her shoulder, looking the map over. This thing looks pretty old; I'm surprised Luffy managed to find it in such good condition. I nod as Luffy, Usopp and Chopper start dancing happily; I say that seals it, Sky Island's real.

However there's still one problem...how the hell are we even supposed to get there?

I leap off Nami's shoulder as she and Luffy begin arguing until she finally ends it with a punch to his head and pointing out that we don't know how to get up into the sky safely. We just need to figure out how that fallen ship got up there.

"I think that ship's at the bottom of the ocean by now." Usopp says.

"If it sunk, then we'll salvage it!" Nami declares.

Salvage a ship that's five times the size of the Merry? What kind of magic we'll we have to work to make that happen?

* * *

A while later, Usopp's made three underwater suits out of barrels connected to air hoses on the ship. I really need to stop shortchanging these guys. Luffy, Zoro and Sanji all put on the suits and we lower them into the ocean.

I watch them vanish from Usopp's shoulder. "Pika…" I say uneasily.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine!" Usopp says, giving me a pat. "Those barrels are my special design, they've never been busted!" I smile and nod; you're the expert. Chopper continues to lower them when my ears twitch. We all turn as we hear noise that sounds like chanting.

"What's all the noise?" Usopp wonders, pulling down one of his goggles.

"Pika?" I move to the top of Usopp's head to get a better look. I cringe as the high pitched noises of whistles and cymbals grate against my ears and a giant... monkey-banana boat(?) stops right near us.

My ears droop as a giant monkey appears near the bow, "Prepare to raise the ship!" he yells. "What lies on the bottom now belongs to the King of Salvagers, Masira of the Masira pirates!"

"Great, a boat of unstable men led by an unstable monkey…" Nami mutters.

"Pika pika…" I say, slipping back down to Usopp's shoulder. _'You can say that again…'_

"Hey, what are you people doing here?!" Masira demands. "In case you didn't know, all these waters belong to me!"

"They do?" Nami asks while Usopp sinks behind the pulley and continues lowering Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji.

"That's right; every vessel that sinks in these parts automatically becomes mine!" Masira answers. "You're not trying to take what's mine are you?"

"So they're going to raise the ship." Robin muses. "Easier for us."

"But not for our three guys already down there!" Usopp points out.

"We should just keep our mouths shut and let him do it!" Nami hisses. She then waves to Masira, "Excuse me, can I ask you a question first?"

"You've got questions for me?!" Masira exclaims. "Fine, whatever, ask away."

"Are all you big strong men gonna salvage that ship?" Nami asks sweetly.

Masira freezes before blushing and grinning, "Stop, you're making me blush!"

"This...is disturbing…" Usopp mumbles.

"Pika…" I grimace; Nami's charm can work magic on just about anything.

"What a loser…" Nami grumbles before putting on a smile again. "Do you mind if we watch you big strong men work?"

Masira laughs, "You just watch us to your heart's content!" Well, that was easy.

"Captain, we have a problem!" One of the salvagers yells. "Something happened to the guys who were trying to set the cradle; it looks like this thing went to town on them with their fists!"

"What?! You mean someone else is down there?!" Masira demands. Arceus dammit, Luffy…

"I'm gonna kill him…" Nami whines.

"You may not get the chance." Usopp says.

"Listen up!" Masira yells to us, making us jump. "There's someone else down there, so be careful!" ...Seriously?

"Oh sure!" Nami says.

"Pikachu…" _'What a moron…'_ I say, deflating on Usopp's shoulder.

We watch as Masira barks orders and sends more people in suits under the water. I move from Usopp's shoulder to the railing and watch the water intently. This Masira guy is a loudmouth, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about how they're gonna get this ship up. Nami and Usopp manage to keep Masira from suspecting anything but our cover is almost blown when Luffy speaks through the hoses, probably startled by the salvagers.

After that, the salvagers begin turning a big wheel and we all stare in amazement as the figurehead of the ship is lifted out and lowered under the water. Once it's in place, Masira holds up a giant air hose. "No way…" Nami says. "He's really gonna raise the ship with his breath?"

Masira blows into the hose and a giant bubble of air travels down the hose and into the ocean. He then connects the hose to a bigger air pump and the salvagers begin pumping even more air as the ship slowly starts to come up. Just then, screaming can be heard from the air hoses of the salvager's ship. "Talk to me, what's going on down there?!" Masira demands. "Is it the intruders?!"

"Yes sir, they're in the ship!" The voice responds frantically before the screaming dies away. Geez you three, show a little sympathy, you're beating up people underwater with no air!

I flinch as Masira stands on the railing and lets out a loud cry. "How dare you intruders lay a hand on my hard working men!" Masira yells. Silence then envelops the area as Masira freezes in his pose. I sweat drop; are those guys holding a flaming background behind him?

"Uh, we're not gonna take your picture or anything!" Nami calls.

"You're not?"

"He was giving us a photo op?" Usopp asks weakly. I sigh and put a paw on my head; having to deal with a monkey other than Luffy on the same day really can't be good for one's mental stability. Our eyes widen as Masira then jumps into the ocean. I know they're pulling the ship up but can he really swim all the way down there?

We all wait when my ears twitch; I'm getting a whole lot of movement down there, and it's not from our guys or the salvagers. The area starts to rumble and a giant shadow movers under both our boats. I flinch as I hear what sounds like a faint crunch and the waves start to move rapidly. We all stare as the biggest sea turtle ever rises out of the ocean.

"Does anyone else see the monster the size of an island in front of us?!" Nami shrieks. Uh yep, this is really happening. Though after seeing so many sea serpents this size, I'm not sure why this is so surprising.

"One tooth is the size of our boat!" Nami yells.

"There's no way this is real!" Usopp agreed. "This is all just a messed up dream that we're all having together for some reason!"

"A dream, great!" Chopper chimes in.

"You know...our boys we're just eaten by that turtle." Robin remarks. My ears droop as I spy the turtle chewing on wooden remains. "So did that ship we were trying to salvage."

"How can you be so calm?!" Usopp wails.

Oh crap… I try to keep myself from shaking in fear, but Chopper running around screaming in panicked circles really isn't helping! I hope those guys are okay! I know they can handle a lot of stuff but this...this is new territory!

"This is all your fault! You said the bottom of the Grand Line would be safe!" Usopp snaps at Nami. "I don't know what qualifies as safe in your book, but in mine, it's not man-eating turtles!"

This isn't helping either! Why must my sixth sense for these guys always act up when I don't want it to!

"You're right…" Nami says softly. She looks directly at the turtle. "Sorry!"

"This is as good as it's gonna get…" Usopp whimpers, falling to the ground.

"Pika pi…" I say shakily. C'mon, where are they?! They should've been back by now! The boat suddenly tips and starts to move as the air hoses pull tight.

"If we don't cut the air hoses, that beast will drag us to the bottom of the ocean." Robin remarks. Oh please tell me that's just the guys wreaking havoc in there! C'mon, any second now they're gonna come busting out of the ocean completely unharmed!

"Usopp!" Nami says. "Cut the air hoses and get us out of here!"

"This is what we're made of?!" Usopp demands, falling over.

"Coward!" Chopper agrees.

"Pika pika pi!" _'Can't you have a little faith in them?!'_ Just then the sky goes dark. We all blink; what just happened?

"It suddenly got dark?" Usopp wonders fearfully.

"Scary…" Chopper squeaks.

"This can't be right, it's not that late to be this dark…" Nami muses, looking at a pocket watch.

Yeah, it isn't cloudy, Nami would've known if it was. It's like someone put a giant shade over us. A chill runs down my spine as I leap off the railing and look around. What the heck could've caused-

I look out ahead and freeze. I blink a few times to make sure what I'm seeing is real. I rub my eyes just to make sure and I feel the color drain from my face. My mouth hangs open and my eyes become as big as the moon. The voices of the others are drowned out as I stay rooted to the spot, completely paralyzed.

I barely register that Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro have all made it back to the ship safely along with Masira. I continue to stare ahead, my heartbeat in my ears and I hear the salvage crew say that this is a bad omen. Bad omen is right; we need to get out of here. _Now_.

"What's up with the rodent?" I hear Zoro. "It's just standing there."

"Pika-chan, are you okay?" I feel Chopper's hoof on my back, "You haven't moved for a while."

A hoarse squeak comes from the back of my throat and I lift a shaky paw. "Pi...Pi...Pi…" I can't even get the words out as I point up and ahead, making everyone look ahead with me.

Silence envelops the entire area as everyone else finally catches on. It's not dark...we're in something's shadow. Three gigantic figures tower over us, bearing wings and spears. They're miles away, but they're easily taller than the clouds. I feel everyone's fear pile on top of mine as my vision becomes blurry; I'm even getting fear from Zoro and Robin, that's how bad it is!

"Pi...Pi...Pi...Pi…" I continue to stutter like a broken record. One of the giants raises his spear and Luffy and Masira break the silence along with me as the word I couldn't get out before is finally said.

"SEA MONSTER!"

"PIKACHU!"

The boys get the oars out and ready faster than you can say 'Run for it!' and the Merry zooms across the water like a rocket. Soon, we're out of the dark and back in the sunlight.

I continue staring blankly into space as everyone collapses from the adrenaline rush. That was so scary I think I'm about to cry...

"That couldn't have been real…" Zoro breathes.

"Those things were taller than the sky…" Usopp whimpers.

"Man, today has just been a nightmare." Sanji comments, taking a drag.

"First that galleon nearly falls on top of us…" Zoro starts.

"The Log pose starts pointing to the sky…" Nami continues.

"A psycho monkey shows up and blocks our way…" Usopp adds.

"A gigantic turtle eats our salvage ship…" Chopper says.

"And then darkness fell…" Robin starts.

"Because the biggest monsters I've ever seen in my life blocked out the sun!" Luffy finishes.

I fall onto my side like a wooden statue, still petrified with fear; it's okay, I didn't want to sleep tonight anyway. "Chuuuuu…" _'Why does karma love tormenting us like this…?'_

"I must admit, even I was intimidated by those things." Masira says.

My ears twitch and I snap out of my stupor. Why is he still here?!

I make my tail iron and Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and I punt him into the ocean, "BEAT IT!"

"PIKA!"

* * *

A short while later, the wind has picked up again, and we're sailing along. I can't help but keep looking around in case anymore giants show up. Meanwhile, Nami looks through the haul that Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji brought back but all that's there is a bunch of artifacts and junk; nothing about Sky Island.

I lie on Robin's lap as she sits on the railing while Nami berates the boys for their lack of information. I sigh in relief as Robin gently strokes my back; this calm aura she always has around her is the most relaxing thing ever.

"Bad day?" Robin says as Nami storms up the stairs.

"It's only gonna get worse with these guys." Nami growls. "I'm gonna snap on them any second!" Honestly, I'm surprised you made it this far.

Robin reaches into her pocket, "Maybe this will help." I perk up as she hands Nami an Eternal Pose. "I took it off that salvager's ship a while ago just in case." Wow, I think she could give Nami a run for her money with burglary!

Tears of joy prick Nami's eyes, "You're the only one I can depend on."

I gotta say, it's nice having a full time respectable adult on the ship! Maybe Robin can finally help balance out the crazy on this voyage. Robin looks down at Luffy who's holding a decent sized octopus that got caught with the salvaging haul.

"Who's up for an octopus dinner tonight?" Luffy calls.

"That boy has got to learn to relax." Robin says.

I look up at her with an uneasy smile, "Pika pika…" _'I wouldn't count on that happening…'_

"Jaya…" Nami says as she examines the Pose. "That must be their home port."

"Is that where we're going next?" Luffy says, hanging on the railing and eating some takoyaki; wow Sanji, record timing with the cooking!

"That would be _your_ decision Captain!" Nami snaps.

Luffy nods and drops from the railing, "All hands on deck! Set sail for Jaya! ...Uh, anyone know which way that is?"

"Starboard." Nami answers flatly.

"Alright, you heard her Chopper!"

"Right!"

"Hold on." Usopp says. "If we go there won't the Log Pose reset? Then we won't know where Sky Island is anymore!"

"Whaaa?!" Chopper screams.

"All hands full stop!" Luffy yells. "Why are you messing with my head, Nami?!"

"I'm not, you're the one who wanted to go to Jaya." Nami responds easily.

"Oh yeah...but I didn't know it would ruin our plans to go to Skypiea!"

"It's not my fault you have the memory of a goldfish!" Uh, you know we could just go get directions and leave before the Pose resets...

"I doubt the needle would reset right when we got to Jaya; so why don't we pull into port and leave before it adjusts." Thank you, Robin.

"We do need directions to Sky Island." Usopp points out.

"Maybe someone in Jaya knows." Luffy agrees.

"Alright, Jaya it is." Nami says.

"Alright, set our course for Jaya!"

"You already said that!"

I sigh and deflate still on Robin's lap as Sanji brings us some more of that takoyaki. All that trouble just to figure out our next destination. I look out to sea, munching on my takoyaki, savoring the delicious tangy flavor.

Hopefully this Jaya place will have the answers we need, whenever we get there.

* * *

 **I remember what I first saw those giants I flipped my shit! That was the most terrifying and unexpected thing I ever experienced and I freaking loved it, cause you know shit is real when Sanji, Zoro, and even ROBIN are freaking out! XD**

 **NOW LISTEN UP! This is where things are going to get different! Yes, we are on our way to Jaya, but before we get there, we're going to make a pit stop for... DEAD END ADVENTURE!**

 **Yes, Movie 4 is up next! So get ready cause next chappie, it's MOVIE TIME! (Hopefully I'll survive finals weeks with enough brain cells to finish it XD )**


	57. Dead End Adventure

**Alright, MOVIE TIME GUYS! These next few movies are gonna come around like rapid fire, so prepare yourselves!**

 **Ah, Movie 4, Dead End Adventure. I'll be honest, this movie is in the same area as Island of Strange Animals. It's not my favorite, but I didn't hate it. In fact, I LOVED the first half with the race, I could watch that part all day. But when the second half rolled around, it just got _boring_. I didn't care much for the little revenge-plot side story with the bounty hunter guy, the villain Gasparde wasn't interesting (I DID like his Devil Fruit though) and the rest of the movie just fell flat for me.**

 **Honestly, I think it would've been more enjoyable if it just focused on the race, just a fun ride with hijinks and other normal pirate battles. But other than that, I like the movie okay, or at least, the first half of it. Let's just say I'm looking forward to doing Movie 5, so I'm glad this is done.**

 **Anyway, enjoy One Piece Movie 4: Dead End Race!**

* * *

Money issues are one of the things I never thought pirates would have trouble with. But I guess that was before I actually became one.

But to be fair, I never imagined I'd be sailing with a crew manned by a rubber captain who's a literal black hole for food. While on our way to Jaya, guess who decided to rear their ugly heads again? Arceus damned Marines; and to make matters worse, we had to sail through a huge storm while escaping!

I'm convinced now; karma is seriously out to get us.

After escaping from them (barely), we dropped anchor at a nearby island called Hannabal Island to resupply for the rest of the trip to Jaya (Nami said it would be about three days before we got there). It was already late when we got there, so we ate dinner at a dingy pub, which ended about the same as usual. Tons of plates stacked on the table and hardly any money left.

"How are we doing on money?" Sanji asks as he brings Robin some coffee.

"Well, we haven't exactly earned anything." Nami answers. "Once we stock up on food we'll hardly have anything left."

"Great…" Sanji sighs, slumping in his chair.

"Pika…" I agree. If worse comes to worse, we may have to resort to burglary.

"Alright, listen up!" Luffy suddenly announces. "I'm obligated to say this as your Captain; you guys are spending too much money!" ...Are you freaking kidding me?

Just about everyone gives him a hard pound for that, resulting in multiple lumps on his head. "IT ALL GOES TO FEEDING YOU!"

I sigh; I already kinda figured that being a pirate wasn't exactly a life of luxury, but this is just ridiculous. "Even so, this could be a problem in the long run." Sanji says.

Nami sighs, "At this point I'm willing to accept anything. There's gotta be some way to get some quick cash here."

Sanji shrugs, "Well, I didn't see any casinos or anything; we may just have to wait and hope that the next island or Jaya has more to offer." He says.

My ears twitch and I look up; I could've sworn the bartender was looking at us just now. I leap off the table as Nami and Sanji discuss ideas for what to do about our money problem; after eating I like to walk around and stretch my legs a bit.

I glance up as another pirate enters the pub and orders a drink at the bar. He exchanges some words with the bartender before slapping some money on the counter. The bartender exchanges a look with the pirate and subtly gestures with his head. I watch carefully as the bartender leads the pirate to the end of the bar where a padlocked door is waiting. The bartender clicks off the lock and opens the door, leading the pirate inside; what the heck?

Curious, I slip around the corner and into the door, making sure to hide myself in the doorway so I'm not spotted. It takes me a minute to realize that I'm standing in a huge tunnel; I thought this was a storage room or something!

The bartender lights a dim lamp and hands it to the pirate and the pirate walks off down the tunnel. I watch him go and debate whether or not to follow him. I probably should let the others know about this first.

I turn to exit just in time to see the door shut. My ears twitch as I hear the padlock click back into place and the light of the lantern vanishes out of sight with the pirate. Oh crap…

I shiver and my pulse quickens as I feel the darkness close in on me, the tunnel's gaping mouth staring at me. I feel like I hear an echo coming from within and my head is filled with screams. I blink and my vision changes.

Flames. Screams. Bodies. People running. Let me out. Let me out. Let me out let me out letmeoutletmeoutletmeoutletmeout!

I start pounding on the door, fear quickly rising. My screams are lost among the ones in my head as my fear rises. Don't take me away! Let me out! Please, let me out! Please don't take me! I want out! Let me out!

 _ **LET ME OUT!**_

I suddenly hear a click and the door disappears, filling the area with a dim light. I see a spot of yellow with a light scent of tobacco and I just about tackle it with all my might. I feel familiar arms hold me and the screams in my head slowly die down as familiar voices surround me.

"Pika-chan, hey! Calm down, it's okay!" Sanji strokes me and I take fast and quick breaths. My head slowly begins to clear and I find myself back in the pub, surrounded by my friends.

"What's wrong with it?!" I hear Chopper ask frantically.

"Pika-chan, calm down. You're fine, it's okay." Sanji continues stroking me. I look down in shame, still clutching Sanji's shirt in a death grip until he gently pries me off of him. Sanji kneels and places me on the ground and Chopper quickly comes up to me. Meanwhile, Nami faces the bartender. I overhear her talking about the door which is still open; guess they saw the tunnel.

"Focus on me, Pika-chan." Chopper's voice snaps me back to attention. I look at him and Chopper takes my face between his hooves, examining my eyes closely. I imagine the dim lighting isn't helping. "Take deep breaths for me, nice and slow."

I obey and my breathing comes out a little shaky, but pretty normal.

"Has this happened before?" Chopper asks Sanji, ending his check-up.

Sanji frowns slightly before nodding, "Yeah, a while back it accidently got stuck in frozen storage." He answers. "I didn't know where it went until I heard it screaming."

Chopper nods and looks at me, "Pika-chan, did you know you were claustrophobic?"

I shake my head; one guess as to why I wouldn't know.

Chopper frowns thoughtfully, "I want you to tell me immediately if something like this happens again." He says seriously. "If your amnesia has made you forget things like this, you could have other cases that we don't know about."

I nod in agreement and sigh. I really hope I don't have any other fears as drastic as this; with us being on the Grand Line, it would just get in the way.

"I guess there's no cure for idiotic pirates…" My ears twitch as the bartender sighs. "Follow me."

My eyes widen as he leads my crewmates back into the tunnel. No...don't tell me we're going back in there! I stand outside the doorway as my friends enter, barely seeing them in the dark before the bartender lights a lantern.

"Are you coming, Pikachu?" Robin asks, looking back at me from the tunnel.

"P-Pika…" I say nervously, backing up until my tail is touching the bar.

"Hurry up and close the door." The bartender says impatiently.

"C'mon Pika-chan, it's okay." Nami says, trying to coax me through but I whine and shake my head, backing away even more.

Sanji looks back, noticing my discomfort as well, "Pika-chan, why don't you head back to the ship; we'll meet you there later." I brighten slightly at the suggestion and nod.

"And if we don't come back by morning...please come get us!" Usopp says with a fearful whimper.

I give an uneasy smile but nod regardless; it wouldn't be the first time I'd have to get all my crewmates out of a mess they caused. The bartender hands my crewmates the lantern and exits the tunnel. I give my friends a little wave before the bartender closes and locks the door behind them and goes back to his station at the bar. I look at the door for a moment before sighing and exiting the pub.

I walk through the dark winding empty streets, a slight frown on my face. I really want to kick myself for not sucking it up and going in with them but...I just can't go back in there! That awful feeling...being in a dark, enclosed space, completely alone with no way to escape… Arceus, just thinking about makes my chest feel tight!

Not to mention all those screams and those visions; some of them are still echoing in my head. I should probably write all this down when I get back to the ship; after all, this isn't the first time I've had strange flashes of fire and screaming.

I turn a corner when something suddenly hits my back. I yelp and fall to the ground as I feel something fall right over me. Is that a foot on me? I get up and shake my fur, turning to see a little kid sprawled on the ground beside me. "Pikachu?" _'You okay?'_ I ask, going over to the kid who looks around ten, maybe a little older.

The kid's wearing dirty, baggy overalls and a large hat on their head. The hat has fallen off slightly, revealing long brown hair tucked underneath it. The kid grimaces and slowly gets up to a sitting position when something falls to the ground. My eyes widen as a pistol falls right between us; did that fall from her overalls? What's a kid her age doing with a gun?

I look up at the girl with a confused expression and she quickly snatches it up and tucks it back into her overalls. Curiosity takes over and I move towards the girl. I put my paws on her leg and move to get another look at the pistol she's hiding but she shoves me away. "Get off!" She snaps.

I frown; so you want to do this the hard way? I leap at her, pushing her onto her back and grab the pistol. I roll off her and manage to hold the large weapon in my paws.

"Hey! Give that back!" Girl yells and gets to her feet. She comes at me, reaching for me and the pistol but I easily jump to the side on my two legs. I continue the process for a while, making Girl chase me in circles grabbing empty air every time she tries to grab me. Thank Arceus the safety is on so I don't have to worry about drawing attention.

"Stop, I mean it!" Girl finally says, and my ears detect a crack in her voice. "I need that! Please, give it back!" Okay, now I'm even more intrigued. I leap out of her reach one more time and throw the pistol a good few feet away. Girl makes to run towards it, but I quickly run between her and the weapon. I glare at her and make sparks fly from my cheeks, letting her know that I mean business.

Girl becomes so startled by the sparks that she falls backwards and stares at me. Well, looks like I got her attention. I soften my glare and point to the pistol, "Pikachu?" _'Why do you have that?'_

Girl stares at me; guess I wasn't too clear. Fair enough.

"Pi-ka-chu?" I repeat, gesturing at the pistol more aggressively.

"It's none of your business!" Girl snaps. "Now give it back!" She starts to move back towards the pistol but I make more sparks fly from my cheeks and let a growl escape. She freezes in her spot and bites her lip. She takes a deep breath before lunging towards me. She quickly shoves me to the side and dives for the pistol, but I slam right back into her, knocking her away.

I stand on her back, pinning her down as Girl's hand is a good ways away from the pistol. Girl grunts and reaches with all her might, but it's way too far away. "Get off! I need that!" Girl cries.

"Pika!" I shake my head and stay on her back, putting my front paws on her head, making her face hit the ground. Man, this kid's stubbornness could give Luffy a run for his money!

"Get off me!" Girl cries, nearly yelling and her voice starts to crack again. "I need that gun! I need money or Grandpa will-!" My eyes widen and Girl's struggles finally cease. I feel her shoulders start to move as her breath hitches and a wave of sadness washes over me. Is she crying?

I crane my neck to look at her face and I spy tiny drops beginning to dot the ground. I slowly get off her back, move to her face, and gently nudge it with my head. Girl peeks up at me and slowly sits up, wiping her eyes.

"Pikachu?" _'Are you okay?'_

"I have to kill a pirate…" My ears perk up at the sentence. "I can buy medicine and food...Grandpa won't die...he won't!"

So this girl's grandpa is sick? And judging by her clothes she must not be very wealthy. No wonder she's resorted to this. Bounty hunting is a big deal and it's dangerous, probably almost as dangerous as being a pirate!

I glance at the pistol and then back to girl; no, I'm not just gonna walk away from this. This girl is so desperate she probably has no idea what she's getting herself into. She wants to bring in a pirate for their bounty, and by the sound of it, she's dead set on trying to kill one, and there's no way I can let that happen. Killing a living thing by your own hand is something you can't ever come back from. If this girl doesn't get killed herself trying to do the deed, committing the act will mess her up for life.

I go up to Girl and tap her leg, catching her attention. I then gesture for her to follow me, "Pika pika."

Girl sniffs and slowly gets up, "You...want me to follow you?" I nod and start to walk off. Girl tucks the pistol away and slowly starts to follow me; guess I've earned her trust so far. I just have to keep her in check.

We eventually arrive at the docks and I lead her to the Merry. Girl makes a face, "Is this...a pirate ship?" she asks skeptically. I nod and Girl frowns, "The pirates must not be very strong if they sail in a silly ship like this." Hey, looks can be deceiving!

Girl's face then lights up and she touches the pistol tucked away in her overalls. "I can sneak aboard this ship! Getting a bounty will be easy if it's these pirates!"

Crap, she got the wrong idea! "Pika!" I exclaim, moving between her and the Merry. "Pika pi, pikachu!" I say, waving my arms and shaking my head. I then point to the spot where she's standing and move towards the ship. Girl starts to follow me but I face her again, "Pika, pika pi." _'No, you stay here.'_

"You want me to wait here?" Girl asks. I nod. Girl frowns but stays put and I leap into the ship. Worst case scenario, I'll have to kick her off the ship myself; hopefully it won't come to that. I don't want to have to paralyze a child.

I quickly go to the galley and throw open the cabinet where Chopper keeps some of his medical supplies. He has separate stashes of stuff all around the ship so there are always some nearby in case of an emergency; we don't have a proper infirmary after all.

I carefully look through the equipment; what was the stuff that Chopper said could numb fevers? That reindeer has pills for everything, it's gotta be somewhere… ah here they are! I pick up a jar full of pills; they look almost exactly like Chopper's Rumble Balls, only blue.

I take out a couple of them and move to the counter of the kitchen. I put the pills down and grab one of the cloth scraps; we have these for practical uses. Chopper can use them for extra bandages, Sanji can use them for dishes, Usopp can use them to clean his equipment, and so on.

I pick out an especially large one and lay it out flat on the counter. I then move to the fruit bowl and pick out a few apples and oranges. Sanji told me that these fruits were the best to eat when dealing with things like a cold or fever. The Vitamin C helps the body to destroy the bacteria easier. I throw a little bread and cheese in as well for extra protein. Girl's grandpa will need all the strength he can get.

I place them in the cloth along with the pills and carefully wrap it up. Nami had taught me a while back how to make bags out of random clothes; turns out it's a nifty trick when you're trying to steal something in a hurry. I pick up the bundle and make my way back out of the galley as fast as I can on two legs.

"Pika!" I call and I leap onto the railing before dropping onto land. I put the bundle down and am relieved to see Girl still outside the ship.

Girl walks up to me, "What is that?" She asks.

"Pika pika!" I say happily. _'It's for you!'_ I push the bundle towards her and she opens it. Her eyes widen as she takes in the food and looks at me.

Her eyes then fall on the pills and she picks them up. "What are these?" I point to them and touch Girl's forehead, trying to get across that it's for the fever.

Girl gives me a confused look, taking in my actions until she finally realizes. "Is...is this medicine?" I nod with a grin and suddenly I'm being crushed by tiny arms. "Thank you...thank you so much!" She says gratefully.

"Pika!" _'No problem!'_

Girl breaks the hug but still holds me, "I'll never forget what you did!" She says happily. "What's your name?" "Pikachu!" I respond.

"Pikachu?" Girl asks, receiving a nod from me. "I'm Anaguma!" I tilt my head; strange name for a girl.

Anaguma puts me down and gathers up the bundle. "I need to get this to Grandpa!" She exclaims and runs off. "Thank you Pikachu!" She calls over her shoulder.

"Pika pika!" I respond, waving. I watch her go and sigh happily; I hope things go better for that girl. Feeling pretty good about my good deed, I leap back onto the ship and climb up to the Crow's Nest.

Now to wait for the others to come back.

* * *

I'm not sure when I dozed off but I must've slept right through when the others came back. The next thing I know, someone's shaking my back and calling my name. "Pika-chan? Hey, wake up buddy."

I open my eyes to see Usopp over me. I yawn and stretch, getting up. I look around and see that it's still pretty dark out; what time is it? "Pikachu?" I ask through another yawn, rubbing my eyes.

"C'mon, little guy." Usopp picks me up. "Let's just say we've gotten ourselves into another crazy situation." Oh great, what did Luffy do now?

Usopp climbs down to the main deck and I see Sanji and Luffy working the sails. What exactly is going on that requires us to wake up at the crack of dawn? "I found Pika-chan!"

"Good!" Nami approaches us and notices my sleepy demeanor. "Rise and shine Pika-chan!" She says, taking my face between her hands and giving my cheeks a few light taps. "We have a big day ahead of us, so I need you bright eyed and bushy tailed, ASAP!"

Usopp puts me down and runs off with Nami to help with the ship, leaving me half-awake and confused as hell. What is going on?! I need to wake up; maybe some breakfast will help. I move to the upper railing and enter the galley.

"Good morning, Pikachu." I look up to see Robin sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in her hands. I smile and nod a greeting and leap onto the counter. A hand suddenly appears near the fruit bowl and tosses me an apple before vanishing in a flurry of petals.

I squeal a thank you and sit on the table, munching on my apple. Oh yeah, maybe Robin can tell what's going on. "Pika?" I ask, pointing to the door.

Robin gives me a smile, "We're entering the Dead End Race." she says. I tilt my head; Dead End Race? "It's a special race that this island holds every few years; pirates come to this island and race to a specific location via Eternal Pose." Robin explains. "But there are no rules and the reward is a cash prize." Say no more, Robin; that's all I need to know.

Once we finish, Robin and I head out to join the others on the main deck. According to the Eternal Pose, we have to sail up the mountain; so I guess it'll be Reverse Mountain all over again. Anyway, Nami gets the boys to ready the ship, a wind blows, and we're off! We sail through a tunnel and find ourselves sailing right through the town, hundreds of people watching and cheering on the streets.

"So this is what they meant by 'Parade Start'." Nami muses. Wow, this is pretty big turnout for a pirate race. Is it really that famous?

"I can see other ships over there." Sanji calls out from the net ladder.

I perk up and climb up with him, perching on his shoulder to get a better view. Holy crap, that's a lot of ships; and there on both sides of us! My ears twitch as I get a huge sense of movement and look a ways back. My eyes widen and I tap Sanji, "Pika." I say, pointing.

Sanji follows my gaze and whistles, "That's a big one." You can say that again! It's probably fifty times the size of the Merry, and it's steam powered too! But the weird thing is that the sails have the Marine symbol on it, but it's crossed out with a big red X. Did they hijack the ship from Marines?

"That's the Salamander, the ship of the race's favorite, Gasparde." Nami explains.

I listen as she says that he's an ex-Marine that they call 'The General'. Not only does he have a Devil Fruit power, but he has a bounty of 95 million. Damn, that's pretty lethal! And judging by his appearance, he definitely doesn't look like a guy you should mess with. He's tall, muscular, and just looks intimidating; this guy could give Zoro a run for his money.

The canals finally begin to join together and we end up between a number of pirates with pretty huge ships, including pirate crews of Fishmen and even Giants! Sheesh, if this is our competition, this is gonna be one exciting day!

We draw closer to the mountain and the current picks up, sending us almost straight up the mountain. Sanji plants his feet firmly on the rope ladder and I position myself so I'm not completely hanging off him as we just about make a 90 degree angle with our ship.

My eyes widen as I look behind us. We're really high up now! At least on Reverse Mountain we couldn't see just how high we were from the ground! I unconsciously tighten my grip on Sanji's shoulder and Sanji puts a hand on my back in a reassuring manner. I give him a smile and we look ahead as we finally reach the top.

For a split second, we see nothing but the ocean and the sun rising over it. Wow, this view almost rivals the top of Reverse Mountain! But then we remember that we're in the air. I tighten my grip on Sanji even more and the Merry drops like a stone along with the rest of the ships. After a few moments of free falling, the back of the Merry hits the bottom of the waterfall and we zoom across the water in a perfect landing.

Despite my paws shaking as I hold onto Sanji I can't help but laugh; that was amazing! "Pika pika!"

"T-that...was the Grand Fall…?" Nami whimpers, completely overwhelmed from fear.

"Now's not the time to be lying around Miss Navigator!" Robin calls. The moment she says that, other ships begin to open fire on each other, decimating the competition left and right.

"Looks like the race has started." Zoro comments.

"From this point on, anything goes." Robin agrees. A pirate race to the core.

I finally climb down from the rope ladder as Nami orders Usopp to guard the rear. I follow him as a rather large ship is right on our tail. "Geez, one's after us already?" Usopp asks.

"Pika." I say, giving him a nod.

Usopp sighs, tying his bandana around his head, "Fine, let's get this over with." He pulls down his goggles, takes aim, and lights the cannon. "Take this!" The cannon fires and the ship smokes before sinking completely beneath the currents. Man, his aim is out of this world! "Yeah!" Usopp cheers. "Never underestimate the Great Captain Usopp!"

"Pikachu!" I cheer, jumping up and giving him a high five.

I run back to the front of the ship and spy Luffy on the head of the Merry. I leap onto his shoulder and watch as multiple ships are taking others and sometimes even themselves out. Some even crash into the land because they were in a bad position to make the sharp turn coming up.

"Boy, they're really going for it!" Luffy laughs.

"Pika!" I agree. Except that sharp turn is coming up and we haven't turned yet…

"Chopper, cut the helm!" Nami yells.

"I'm trying!" Chopper grunts, pulling at the tiller. "It won't move! It's stuck!" Aw man, it really _is_ Reverse Mountain all over again! If we don't do something we'll either crash or be sent flying!

"What if we just kick it from below to help cushion it?" Zoro suggests.

"There's no way that would-" Nami cuts herself off and hits her palm with her fist. "Oh yeah, cushion it!" She gets a smile on her face. "Oh Luffy~!"

A few seconds later, as we reach the wrecked ships, Luffy leaps in front of us. "Gum Gum...Balloon!" He inflates and the hull of the Merry hits him dead on. Luffy starts to roll, and using the current pushing the Merry, the ship springs into the sky. Usopp runs to the rear to catch Luffy's hand as he stretches towards us and we start flying over the town; is it just me or does Merry end up flying a lot?

"But now what do we do?" Chopper exclaims. Good question! We're right over the town with no water nearby and we're gonna drop any second now!

Robin crosses her arms. "Grand Fleur!" Hundreds of hands appear on the side of the ship closest to the water and the hands all come together to form one massive hand. The hand grips the ground and yanks us sharply back towards the water.

"NICE ONE ROBIIIIIIN!" Luffy yells, still flying behind us in the air.

I'm sent into the air as we land and end up landing on the back of Sanji's head, making him stagger a little bit. "Sheesh, it's hard to believe this stuff happens on a regular basis." He says as I regain my balance on his shoulder, peeking over his head. "I'm starting to wonder how we survived this long."

"Pika pi." I agree, my top half leaning on his head.

"G-Great job Robin, just like I planned!" Nami says shakily.

"You liar!" Zoro snaps.

"Well, now that we're out of the town, let's enjoy the rest of the voyage." Robin says with a smile.

"Yeah! I'm really pumped up now!" Luffy cheers. "Let's go you guys! Let's win this race!"

"Aye!"

"Chu!"

* * *

Once we get out on the open ocean again, the rest of the ships slowly sail out of sight. Soon, we're on our own on the quiet ocean. "I guess the others are taking the course they think is best." Usopp comments.

"This is probably a good time to make lunch." Sanji says.

"Yes! Fooood!" Luffy cheers.

"Zoro, you check the outside of the ship for any damage," Nami says. "Pika-chan, you check the inside of the ship."

I nod and head into the storage room first. I move around at a quick pace, checking if any area looked cracked or damaged. Doesn't look like anything got broken despite the fall, unlike when we went down Reverse Mountain. Kudos to you for toughing it out, Merry.

Just then, my ears twitch making me turn towards the bathroom. It was small, but I swear I felt the tiniest hint of movement. I slowly sneak over and open the door, revealing the empty bathroom. My ears twitch again and my eyes narrow. There's only one place to hide in here, and if my instincts are right…

I quickly leap towards the wall above the bathtub. For the split second of airtime I have, I glance down and see a small lump. Bingo. I push off the wall and pounce on the figure. There's a flash of metal and I quickly smack it with my paw, making a pistol slide to the other end of the tub. A pistol...that looks very familiar.

I look down at the stowaway to be greeted with a tiny girl in dirty overalls with a big hat on her head. Our eyes widen and we both point at each other.

"Chu!" _'You!'_

"You!" Anaguma squeaks before quickly covering her mouth.

I quickly peek out of the tub and make sure none of the others are coming in before facing Anaguma sharply. "Pika pikachu?!" I whisper. _'What are you doing here?!'_

"What are you doing here, Pikachu?!" Anaguma whispers right back. I asked you first, kid; fess up! Anaguma scoops up her pistol and shoves it back into her overalls.

"Pika?!" I ask harshly; I want an explanation and I want it now!

"Look, I'm not gonna butt in on your stealing spree!" Anaguma hisses. "I'm just here to kill a pirate for their bounty, that's all!"

I frown in confusion; stealing spree? Does she think that I go around stealing from pirate ships? And- wait… she still wants to kill for a bounty?! Arceus dammit kid, it's not worth it! I shake my head and move to get the pistol but she shoves me away.

"Back off!" She snaps softly, slowly standing up. "You may have helped my grandpa but I won't let you stop me, Pikachu!" She starts to climb out of the tub and I notice that she seems a bit on the sluggish side.

I hop out of the tub and move between her and the door. "Pika pika!" I say firmly. What do I have to do to get the point through her head?!

"Get outta my way!" Anaguma says, taking deep breaths. "Or I'm...gonna…" she trails off as her eyes roll back.

I yelp as Anaguma collapses, breathing heavily. "Pikachu pi?" _'Anaguma?'_ I ask cautiously, going up to her. My eyes widen as her face seems a bit on the red side. I feel her forehead with my paw and wince; she's really starting to burn up!

Oh man, did she catch the fever from her grandpa? I need to tell Chopper! But...I don't really want to leave her alone. Her fever didn't feel too bad (I should know what bad fevers feel like) and I don't want her to get up and try to handle that gun of hers in this condition.

I nod and move to her middle, gently lifting her with my head. With careful movements, I manage to squirm my way under her until her chest is on my back. Okay, one...two...three! I take a deep breath and straighten my legs, carrying her full dead weight.

I grunt, willing myself to not to shake under her weight and drag myself out of the bathroom and back towards the main deck. Anaguma's head is hanging next to mine and her hands and feet are being dragged on the floor since she's still low to the ground but she's still balancing on me. Thank Arceus I left the door open.

"Pika pi!" I call loudly once I near the door.

"Pika-chan?" I hear Sanji respond.

I step into the light, Anaguma in tow, gazing up at them worriedly. "Pika pi, pikachu!" I say urgently.

Everyone's eyes widen. "What the hell?" Sanji exclaims, rushing over to me. Sanji carefully lifts Anaguma off me and gently holds her while the others gather around.

"What's a kid doing here?" Zoro asks, looking at me.

"Pika pika." I answer, pointing back the way I came.

"He must've stowed away on our ship." Nami says. Uh, it's a 'she'...

Sanji continues to hold Anaguma, taking the pistol off her, while Chopper promptly checks her over. "Take him to the galley; I need to break that fever before it gets worse!" Chopper orders. She's a girl, you guys! How can you not tell?! Well, then again, that hat is pretty good at concealing her hair.

We all hurry to the galley and Chopper sets Anaguma up on the makeshift bed that we always use for strangers and I sit by her side. Chopper gives her a little medicine, and the fever breaks before you can say 'Get well soon'.

"So, you know this kid Pika-chan?" Sanji asks, making me look up. "You seemed pretty worried earlier."

I nod, "Pika-"

"Pikachu…?" I cut myself off as Anaguma stirs.

I hover above her face as her eyes slowly open. "Pikachu pi!" I say happily.

"Wh...what happened?" Anaguma mumbles, blinking tiredly.

"Glad to see you awake!" Chopper says happily. "You would've been in pretty bad shape if that fever was left unchecked."

Anaguma blinks at Chopper and springs up, backing into the corner. "A talking deer!"

"I'm not a deer, I'm a reindeer!" Chopper snaps.

"That doesn't make it any better!"

"Shut up you brat!"

"Y-You...m-m-m-"

"If you're about to say 'monster', forget it." Nami steps in. "He's actually the best doctor there is."

"Sh-shut up! Your compliments won't ever make me happy you asshole!" Chopper says, doing his signature wiggle. I smile and giggle at the sight; that never gets old.

"You're lucky that Pika-chan found you," Nami goes on. "Or you'd be in pretty bad shape."

"Pika...chan…?" Anaguma asks weakly, looking at me. "Pikachu, what-"

"So you _do_ know each other." Sanji says before looking at me. "It's great that you know how to make friends Pika-chan, but next time don't let them stowaway on our ship."

"Pika pi." I say, rubbing the back of my head. _'Sorry.'_

"You...You're a pirate?" Anaguma asks in shock, still staring at me. I smile sheepishly; I forgot that I never told her.

Anaguma's face slowly becomes a scowl, "You lied to me…" she hisses. "You lied to me! I should've known that you were nothing but a dirty pirate!"

I flinch at the harshness in her words. "Pika pika!" _'I didn't lie to you, it just never came up!'_

"I never should've trusted you in the first place!" Anaguma snaps, tears pricking her eyes before rummaging through her clothes. "You may have helped me before, but now...now..." She trails off, her expression becoming confused. I tilt my head as she continues looking through her overalls.

"Looking for this?" We turn as Nami places Anaguma's pistol on the table, having taken it from Sanji when he found it earlier. "You've got guts bringing something like this onto a pirate ship; no one would bat an eye if you ended up dead because of it." Despite her coldness, I can't help but be glad that she's not sugarcoating anything. Someone has to get the point across to this kid and these guys are the ones to do it.

"So, what exactly are you after?" Nami asks. "Did someone send you, or are you here on your own?" Anaguma grits her teeth and starts to shake; guess she's finally realizing that she's in way over her head.

"C'mon, it's okay; the kid is still recovering after all." Chopper says, probably trying to keep the mood light for Anaguma's sake. "We can ask questions later."

"To kill you." Anaguma says softly. "To kill you all and collect your bounties!"

Nami doesn't seem impressed, "Our bounties huh?" She sighs. "You know there were tons of other ships to choose from, why pick ours?" I think that's partly my fault…

"Pikachu showed it to me!" Anaguma says giving me a glare. "Before it betrayed me." I lightly frown. Would you quit it? I didn't betray you! "I thought if Pikachu could get stuff from this ship so easily then this ship must be weak; I mean, it looks stupid!"

"Hey! That's the Going Merry you're talking about!" Usopp snaps, he and Luffy having appeared in the doorway. "This is the ship of the infamous Straw Hat pirates!"

"Like I care!" Anaguma retorts.

"Pika-chan, did you give this kid something from our ship?" Nami asks me.

I nod and Chopper decides to step in again. "Was it food or something?"

I nod again and open my mouth to try and get across why I did what I did, but Anaguma rushes forward and gives me a shove, "Shut up!" She snaps. "You're a pirate! As far as I'm concerned, you didn't give me anything! I should've killed you when we met!"

A vein pops on my head; this kid's attitude is finally starting to grate on my nerves. "Pika pika pikachu!" _'Well excuse me for trying to help, you brat!'_

"Please, calm down!" Chopper cries, going to Anaguma. "You still need to rest!"

"Get away from me!" Anaguma shoves Chopper away.

"Pirates are used to being wanted dead." Luffy says. "If you aren't ready to die, then you aren't ready to take on any pirate."

Robin's hand suddenly appears on the table and tosses the pistol back to Anaguma. "Go on," She says. "Show us how serious you are."

Anaguma stares at the gun and grits her teeth. This oughta be good. "Don't mock me…" Anaguma growls and takes aim at Luffy. "YOU BASTARD!" Oh man, she's in for it now.

The pistol fires and hits Luffy right in the chest, but as expected, it just ricochets right back. I sweep my tail under Anaguma, making her slip low to the ground as the bullet hits right above her head. She stares at Luffy, shock and terror written all over her face. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" She screams.

We give her the quick 101 about Devil Fruits, including the whole 'can't swim' quirk. Turns out this kid has never left the ship she and her grandpa have been sailing on so she never heard of Devil Fruits until now.

Once the explanation is done, Anaguma starts to shake even more. "Kill me…" she says softly, making my ears perk up. She sits down, her head low and resigned, "Just kill me now and get it over with!" Whoa, kid, aren't you jumping the gun a little bit? We never that we'd hurt you; hell, if we wanted you dead, we would've done it already.

"I'd like to call you brave…" Nami says, "But aren't you treating your life a little too lightly?" Yeah, you're a kid! You're way too young to be saying stuff like this!

"I don't need to be lectured by a pirate." Anaguma spits. "I failed, so there's no point for me to stay alive." She smiles lightly. "It'd probably be better if I never even existed!" My eyes widen; okay kid, you have some serious issues going on here.

"Zoro, I'm boring your sword." Nami says, getting up. My ears wilt as she picks up and unsheathes Wado; oh man, this isn't gonna be pretty.

"I've heard enough of this self-pity crap." Nami growls. "But if you really want to die, then I'll go ahead and kill you myself!"

"Ahh! Nami, don't!" Chopper squeals, leaping between her and Anaguma.

"Stay out of this, Chopper!" Nami snaps, pointing the sword at Anaguma. "It's attitudes like that that really piss me off!" Nami glares at Anaguma, her eyes blazing. "No point to stay alive? What kind of talk is that?!" She demands. "You're alive now, so why don't you actually do something with your life instead of giving up and dying like a coward?!"

Sheesh, even children aren't spared when they press Nami's buttons.

Poor Anaguma's shaking like a leaf; yeah, dying doesn't sound too practical now, does it?

"Lunch is ready!" Sanji announces. I go over to the table to join Luffy, Usopp, Robin, and Zoro while Chopper tries desperately to keep Nami from slicing and dicing Anaguma. Judging by the look on Anaguma's face, she's probably really regretting what she's gotten herself into.

Looks like I'll have to put on my therapist gloves again.

* * *

After lunch and everything calms down, I exit the galley to find that it's snowing. Freaking Grand Line weather. Anaguma ran out of here a while ago, so I want to find her and hopefully try to talk some more sense into her. Or at least, help with that whole 'I have no reason to exist' thing she has stuck in her head.

I peek around the corner to see her huddled in a corner, but stop when I see Sanji sitting on the stairway next to her, having given her a blanket, most likely on Chopper's orders. From the sound of it when I got here, Sanji had just finished telling Anaguma about Nami's past with Arlong. Guess he's trying to help drive the point home about not dying that Nami was trying to make earlier.

"We've all had it rough at some point in our lives, that's one thing we all have in common." Sanji says. "Even Pika-chan doesn't have it easy; it doesn't remember where it came from or what it is. You can only imagine what that must be like." Anaguma seems to tense ever so slightly when I'm brought up.

"I know that things may seem rough now, but you should take Nami's advice and keep on living." Sanji continues, before turning to her with a smile. "If you keep going and don't give up, who knows, maybe you'll actually find the light at the end of the tunnel."

I slowly smile; would you look at that. Has Sanji been taking pointers from me when I wasn't looking?

I glance behind me to see that Usopp and Luffy had been listening in as well, and they seem impressed too. Sanji lights his cigarette when Anaguma still doesn't respond. "Don't worry; you'll understand someday." And with that, he gets up and comes towards us.

"Well, what was that about?" Usopp asks smugly, Luffy laughing.

"What?" Sanji asks.

"You were being pretty nice to that kid," Usopp says with a smirk.

"Pika pika." I say with a smug, knowing look on my face.

Sanji frowns at me, "What's with that face? I was just talking to him!"

I giggle and give his leg a light smack with my tail; sure you were, you big softie! "Pika pikachu!" _'You'll make a great dad someday!'_ I say before walking away, leaving Sanji completely dumbfounded.

I can't help but laugh whenever Sanji acts serious and sentimental around kids. He acts all tough and cool or lovey-dovey for the girls, so it's sweet to actually see him be encouraging around kids when he normally doesn't spare them a second glance; like that one time with that Marine kid and the curry. After all, I know better than anyone how protective he can be; he basically has a Dad-mode.

I wince as the tall figure appears again in my mind. The one with the blue and yellow colors; but they don't seem any more prominent or clear. But what was the trigger? Wait...was it...Dad?

My face heats up slightly. ...No way, that can't be right!

I shake my head and make my way towards Anaguma who's now properly wrapped the blanket around herself. She spots me and looks away, "What do you want?"

I smile sadly and go over to her side, sitting down. I give her a small nuzzle, "Pika pi." _'Sorry for not telling you before.'_

Anaguma doesn't pull away from my touch and her face hardens. "That medicine worked…" She says softly, catching my attention. "It brought Grandpa's fever down...just thought you should know."

I smile and nod, "Pikachu!" I'm glad that her grandpa's doing better. But if he's better, then why did she still want to hunt a pirate?

"The food was good too…" Anaguma mumbles, as if ashamed that she's telling me this. "We haven't had food that good in a long time…"

My ears perk up; I almost forgot that she's poor. She probably still wanted money so she could get more food and medicine if her grandpa got sick again; that makes the most sense to me anyway. "Pika pika." I say, still smiling. Even if I didn't give her much, I'm glad it made a little difference.

"Dammit...why?" Anaguma mutters as she starts to shake. "Why can't I stay mad at you?"

I let out a chuckle; I just have that effect on people. I put my paws on her leg and lean up towards her, a hopeful expression on my face. "Pikachu?" _'So...do you forgive me?'_

Anaguma stares hard at me and bites her lip. "C'mere," she grumbles, picking me up and placing me on her lap before wrapping the blanket around both of us. "It's cold, so keep me warm."

I brighten and nuzzle against her with a happy squeal; good to know that I haven't lost my touch. We stayed in that same position for a good few hours until Chopper forced us inside to get warm.

* * *

That evening, we found ourselves being tailed by one of the bigger ships. It looks familiar; did we see it during the parade? The pirates start gloating but we really don't have the patience for morons.

"Who's that?" Sanji asks, referring to the captain, who's doing most of the screaming.

"I don't know, but he's getting on my nerves." Zoro says.

"Oh yeah; he's the guy from the start of the race!" Usopp points out.

"Yeah; I think his name was Vigaro." Chopper agrees.

"Interesting; I thought we were in last place." Robin remarks.

"So they're in last?" Luffy asks, causing the pirates to finally shut up.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Vigaro yells.

"Guess we were right!" Nami says.

"That's it! I'll crush your bones into-" Vigaro's cut off as Usopp shoots an egg right into his face. "Whoa, I hit him!"

"Nice one, Usopp!" Nami says, giving him a thumbs up.

"Pikachu!" I agree.

"Yeah! How do you like that?" Usopp cheers happily. We look back to see the Vigaro pirates all getting their weapons ready and Usopp retreats, as usual. "Alright; go get 'em you guys!" He says. Zoro rolls his eyes and I smile grows on my face; awesome! It's been awhile since we've seen some good action!

"Hold on, we've got this." Zoro says as he and Sanji step forward.

"Just sit out and relax for once." Sanji says, following Zoro.

"Pikaaaaaaa!" I whine. C'mon, I want to fight too, you guys! Why do they get to have all the fun?!

Zoro and Sanji jump onto the ship and a few seconds later, the fighting begins. Pirates go flying as Zoro and Sanji go to town with their swords and kicks; at least their fights are entertaining to watch. Just then, the boat shakes ever so slightly.

"What was that?" Nami asks. "I don't know." Robin answers. The boat shakes again, but much harder and my ears twitch. I'm getting a lot of movement under us! We're all thrown about as the water under Vigaro's ship suddenly rises and hordes of sea serpents appear in a huge group, Vigaro's ship resting right on the snout of a particularly big one.

"SEA KINGS!"

"THEY'RE HUGE!"

Hmm, this scenario seems very familiar…

"Idiots! Don't make so much noise!" Someone yells. The serpent carrying the boat narrows its eyes and the boat starts to slip off its snout.

Wait, I know what to do! I run up and tug Luffy's pant leg. "Pika! Pika pi, pikachu!" I exclaim, pointing to the Sea King.

I then point to my tail and Luffy smiles, "Got it!" He picks me up and holds me with one hand, rearing back. "You ready?"

"Chu!" I say with a nod.

"Alright! Gum Gum...Slingshot!" Luffy yells and launches me up towards the serpent like a bullet. I feel his hand grab onto my tail and I soar right towards the serpent's nose. I hone in on my target and latch onto the first nose hair I see.

Luffy gives me a sharp yank, making me wince and I pull the hair out with a snap. "PIKACHU!" I yell, pointing to the ship.

"Okay! Hang on!" Luffy responds, giving his arm a swing. The ship slips off the serpent's snout as the monster starts to sniff, getting ready to sneeze.

"Pika pi!" I yell as I fly over the ship.

Sanji catches my eye and nods. "Hey mosshead! Jump!" He yells.

"Why?!"

"Just do it! And jump as high as you can!"

I grin as Sanji and Zoro leap up into the air high above the others and I dive towards them. This is gonna be close! I grab the back of their shirts with a tight grip just as the serpent lets out a giant sneeze. A giant wall of air hits us and I feel Luffy's grip on my tail tighten as we're yanked back. I bite back a scream as my tail throbs in pain and I focus my energy on holding Sanji and Zoro; why do these guys have to be so heavy?!

We all scream as we fly over the ocean and the Willy ship skids over the water before sinking. I glance back as the Merry draws closer every second; oh Arceus, brace yourselves!

I barely hear Luffy's 'Uh-oh' before we all collide into our captain and go flying across the ship, ending up crashing right through the railing and into the wall leading to storage. We all peel off the wall and land in a heap on the ground.

"Oh my gosh! Are you guys okay?!" Chopper nearly screams.

"We're fine!" Luffy says, laughing all the way.

"Do you ever think these things through?" Sanji growls.

"I'm gonna kill him one day…" Zoro mutters.

If I could see their faces, I imagine they look ready to kill something, but my vision is pretty messed up. I think I'm on Zoro's head cause I feel short hair with a tinge green, or...I think it's green. I think that fall messed with a my head a bit 'cause I seriously cannot tell which way is up right now.

"Hey rodent, you still with us?" I hear Zoro ask.

"Chuuuuuu…" I moan, swirls in my eyes. _'Stop the boat from spinning please, I'd like to get off…'_

"Geez…" Zoro picks up off his head and looks at me along with Sanji.

"Pika-chan? You okay?" Sanji asks.

"Hey, c'mon rodent, snap out of it." Zoro says, snapping in front of my face.

I blink and shake my head before holding it with my paws. "Pika…" I say woozily, still swaying slightly from the impact. Well, I can see straight again, that's a good sign. Zoro puts me down and I drop to all fours, stumbling around dizzily for a few moments until my brain finally catches up. I shake my head again and I finally snap back into gear.

"You okay?" Sanji asks again.

I sit down and sigh in relief and give my crewmates a thumbs up; it'll take more than that to keep me down!

That night, we all laugh and talk about the crazy scenario we went through. "Pika-chan, you were so cool!" Chopper says. "How did you know what to do?"

I rub the back of my head before giving a simple answer. "Pika." _'Apis.'_

"Apis?" Chopper asks.

"Hm? You mean that kid who could talk to dragons?" Luffy asks.

"Dragons?!" Chopper exclaims.

"Oh yeah!" Nami says. "The same thing happened to us on the Calm Belt; Apis made the Sea King sneeze the exact same way!"

"Pika!" I say happily before Sanji gives me a good pat, "You may have amnesia, but you sure know how to remember stuff in a pinch!"

I close my eyes with a giggle and push his hand away a blush coating my cheeks. "Pika pika…" _'Shut up, stupid…'_

"So, should we call you Chopper now?" Usopp asks with a smirk.

I open my eyes and I realize what I just said and did; oh Arceus, these guys really _are_ rubbing off on me! My forgotten identity is being replaced by these idiots! At this rate, I'll become some weird combination of them! What would that even be like?!

Everyone laughs and I turn bright red, my paws still tugging on my ears from my panic-induced thought process. "Pika pikachu!" I exclaim angrily, my face still red.

"But what about the dragons?" Chopper asks, still hung on that one detail.

"I'm curious about that as well," Robin says. "And didn't you say that you also survived the Calm Belt?"

"Ah yes, I remember it like it was yesterday!" Usopp says, getting his lying look on his face. "That day, I not only took out a fleet of Marine ships, but I also-"

He's (thankfully) cut off as Nami punches him on the head. "If you tell the story, we'll be here all night…" she grumbles. That, and you shouldn't fill Chopper's head with so many stories; he's still young after all.

Nami starts to tell the story properly and I glance over to see that Anaguma still hasn't moved from her spot against the wall. She must be hungry, so why is she still so wary?

I slip off the table and go over to her, tapping her knee to get attention. She looks at me and I point to the table. "Pikachu?" _'You want some food?'_

Anaguma stares hard at me. "Are you guys always like that?" My ears perk up at the soft question. "You tell me not to talk about dying, but then you go and do something dangerous like that!" Anaguma exclaims. "You're so small; you could've died out there!"

I take in her words and smile at the memory before giggling; I guess that was pretty dangerous! I'm sounding more like Luffy with every passing day!

"Don't laugh; this is serious!" Anaguma snaps. "Aren't you afraid of dying?"

I nod; of course I'm afraid of dying, who isn't?

"Then why?!" Anaguma demands.

"Because we can't just throw our lives away." We look up as Luffy approaches us and crouches down near us. "We all have dreams and ambitions, things we want to do no matter what." Luffy rests a hand on my head and grins, "And if we die fighting for them, then it'll be worth it, no matter what!"

"Pikachu!" I chirp with a smile. I swore that I was going to find my memories and become the strongest of my kind. I don't care what I have to face along the way; as long as I'm alive and here with my friends, I'll do whatever it takes to chase that dream.

I'll do it for me...and for Sandy.

"So, do you want food or not?" Luffy asks.

Anaguma swallows and looks away, giving me one last glance as I look at her with a kind of pleading look on my face, almost like when I convinced Apis to eat when back when. "...Maybe just a little…" Anaguma finally relents.

Luffy giggles, "Great! Sanji's food is the best!" As if on cue, Sanji walks over and hands her a plate full of food. The man has a sixth sense when it comes to hunger, and for good reason.

I bring my own plate over and eat by her side. We sit in silence, but I can see the ghost of a smile on Anaguma's face.

* * *

Once Anaguma and I finish eating, I bring the empty plates over to the table, Sanji taking them to the sink. I leap onto the table; I wonder if Sanji has any dessert planned?

Just then, my ears twitch; I just heard something. Something loud and familiar. I perk up catching everyone's attention.

"Pika-chan?" Chopper asks.

I hear the sound again...it sounds like...cannonfire? I leap off the table and bound out the door, when the smell of smoke hits my nose. Chopper picks up on the smell when he follows me outside and we all see what looks like a light up ahead. We all run to the helm only to be greeted by multiple wrecked ships as well as spotlights and sirens.

"This...this is a Marine stronghold!" Nami exclaims.

"Any idea what this could mean?" Sanji asks.

Nami shakes her head as she gazes at the Eternal Pose, "There's no doubt; the needle is pointing straight ahead!"

Robin gazes at the pose suspiciously, "Perhaps that Eternal Pose isn't what we think it is."

Nami and Sanji start and examine the Pose closely. Nami picks at the label and it falls away, revealing another name, most likely the name of this stronghold. This whole race was one big pirate trap from the very beginning! "Dammit, I knew there was something fishy about this!" Sanji mutters.

"It was Gasparde." Luffy growls, glaring at the carnage. "Only he would do something like this."

"How could you possibly know that?" Nami asks.

"I just do." Luffy responds.

"I think he's right." We all turn to see Anaguma. "My grandpa and I sail on his ship; and I remember seeing a whole bunch of Eternal Poses in the cargo hold."

"Pirates betraying pirates," Zoro muses. "Some 'general' he turned out to be."

"So what do we do know?" Usopp asks. "Go after him?"

"We won't be able to without a proper Eternal Pose." Nami points out.

"It's too late anyway!" Anaguma suddenly blurts out. "Now Grandpa's gonna…"

"Your grandpa?" Nami asks.

"Not my real grandpa; he found me and saved my life." Anaguma explains. "He's really old and sickly, but Gasparde says that he's not really a part of the crew so he won't help him!" Anaguma clenches her fists. "Pika-chan gave me some medicine when we first met...but that won't last forever, and Gasparde told me that unless I killed a pirate, he wouldn't consider us a part of his crew, so I…"

Nami nods in understanding, "That's why you snuck aboard our ship."

"And that was how you knew about our ship, because Pika-chan led you here before to give you medicine." Sanji adds.

Anaguma silently nods and I gaze at her sadly. "Are you stupid or something?" Luffy asks, catching her attention. "Your grandpa didn't save you so you could die."

"I...I know that…" Anaguma says, tears coming to her eyes.

"Then stop acting like you're gonna die!" Luffy says. "If you really want to save him, then get him off that ship; if you're not gonna stand up and fight, then you can't talk about risking your life."

Anaguma sniffs, "I...I don't need you...to tell me that!"

"Good." Luffy says, facing her with a grin. "Cause I'm gonna kick Gasparde's ass; wanna come?"

"You bet I do!" Anaguma exclaims through her tears.

"Well, that's that." Nami says with a shrug. "And it's not like we can give up on that 300 million prize money; we're gonna need a proper Eternal Pose to get there."

"H-Hold on…" Usopp stutters. "It sounds like we're gonna actually take on Gasparde." Well, what did you expect after a speech like that! We quickly turn the ship around and make it away from the stronghold, dodging the cannon fire with ease.

"Wait, how are we even gonna find him?" Usopp asks.

"Easy; with Chopper's nose!" Luffy answers.

"Got it!" Chopper says seriously.

"There's no way that will work…" Usopp grumbles.

"Relax, just leave the rest to me!" Nami says and we sail on.

* * *

Surprisingly, we actually managed to find Gasparde's ship with Chopper's sense of smell and Nami's navigating. Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. Before we got there, I hurried to the boy's room and got my Muscle Band, tying it around my tail; things might get hairy out there.

Once we got within a good distance, Luffy let out a battle cry and stretched on over to the ship, itching to get the fight started. It didn't take us long to reach the side of the ship, and by the time we did, the last had already toppled over. Luffy must really be going to town. Sanji, Zoro, Anaguma and I board the ship in time to see Luffy and Gasparde having quite the stare down.

My ears twitch as I see a man wearing a yellow suit lying, badly injured, on the ground between the two. If I had to guess, I'd say that he tried to take out Gasparde before us; safe to say that didn't end well.

Sanji waits by the ladder while Zoro, Anaguma and I go look for her grandpa. Luckily, he's right out on the main deck. Anaguma tells him that they're finally getting off this ship and Grandpa seems surprised by her attitude. Guess we finally got her to drop that stupid 'I shouldn't even exist' complex.

Anyway, Grandpa tells her to go on ahead, saying that he left something in the boiler room. Zoro and I frown slightly at his expression; something doesn't feel right.

Grandpa heads back below the ship and Zoro picks up Anaguma, taking her back to the ship. "We're done here, Luffy!" He calls.

"Alright." Luffy answers, not breaking his gaze with Gasparde.

"Nami, we're done!" Sanji calls down the ladder.

"Alright, but hurry it up!" Nami says. "There's something off about this weather!" Oh dear; when Nami says that, you know it can't be good.

Zoro and Anaguma start to climb down the ladder when there's a loud crash. We turn to see that Luffy has hit the injured guy into the wall next to them; guess he was in the way.

Gasparde starts throwing punches which Luffy dodges and he lands a blow to Gasparde's stomach. My eyes widen as I see that Gasparde's body has turned into some weird green gooey stuff; the hell?

"What the hell is this?! It feels freaky!" Luffy exclaims.

"I ate the Candy Candy Fruit." Gasparde answers. "It allows me to turn my body into candy syrup."

My ears wilt; that...wasn't the Devil Fruit power I was expecting him to have. However, it proves to be quite lethal as Luffy can't get his hand out of the syrup, allowing the giant man to pummel him with fast and hard punches, throwing Luffy's hat right off his head. I growl under my breath and Sanji and I move to go help him.

"Stay out of it." Zoro calls up from the ship. "It's his fight; he'll get mad if you two step in." My ears droop; I know he's right, but still!

"Even so, that candy guy is no pushover." Sanji says. "That syrup is so sticky that…" Sanji trails off.

"Pika?" I ask.

Sanji's eyes widen as he comes up with an idea, "Hang on; I'll be right back!" He says before running off. I start and quickly follow him across the deck, both of us jumping as Luffy's head appears near us as he stretches for a Gum Gum Bell.

I skid to a halt as Sanji heads below deck and watch intently as Luffy tries landing blow after blow on Gasparde. He avoids getting stuck again, but Gasparde doesn't even look bothered by his attacks. "Enough screwing around." Gasparde growls. "Why don't you fight me seriously?!"

"I'm always serious in fights!" Luffy snaps back. "I got out of your stupid sticky trap, didn't I?"

Gasparde growls and I grin slightly, but I tense as Gasparde's gaze suddenly lands on Luffy's hat. "Is that wise, leaving your valuable treasure on the ground like that?" He asks. "You got really mad when my man was about to step on it; it's the hat that Red Hair Shanks gave you, correct?" My eyes widen as his hand turns into a sharp point.

"He didn't give it to me, I'm holding it for him!" Luffy yells. "Don't touch it!"

I start to run as Gasparde aims his candy weapon at the hat, "If it's that important to you, you should protect it!" He sneers.

"Stop!" Luffy nearly screams. "Touch it and you're dead!"

Gasparde smiles and I will myself to run faster. "Your screaming won't protect anything!"

I zoom forward as fast as I can and snatch the hat between my teeth just as the candy point elongates. I wince as I feel something sharp and smooth nick my tail but I keep running.

"Pika-chan!" Luffy exclaims.

I cast him a smirk, despite the hat in my mouth and Gasparde looks at me. "Damn pest!" He growls, turning his singular candy point into multiple points, like a clawed hand. The five points shoot towards me, and I skid to a halt just in time.

I hold the hat to my chest, keeping it out of harm's way as the candy points surround me like a cage. I frown and put Luffy's hat back in my mouth; it may be a Devil Fruit but it's still just candy. I activate my Brick Break, feeling a extra pulse of power from my band, and give it a sharp swing as I spin, making the points shatter easily.

I zoom out of harm's way and Luffy takes the opportunity to lunge at him. He barely brushes past Gasparde's face, drawing a little blood in the process before flying into a pile of wood on the ship. Luffy gets to his feet, a dangerous glare on his face, "Your fight's with me." He growls. "Leave Pika-chan and my hat out of this!"

Gasparde grins, "That's the look I like to see." He says. "Alright; let's see what you can really do!" I move back towards the ladder as fast as I can. "Pika-chan!" I skid to a halt at Luffy's voice. I lock eyes with Luffy and give him a thumbs up, his hat still safely between my teeth. Luffy grins and nods, "I'll be back soon, kay?"

I nod and leap back down onto the Merry. "Pika-chan!" Anaguma exclaims.

I smile and give Luffy's hat to Zoro; they can tell by my expression that Luffy wants it out of danger.

"I wish Sanji and Luffy would hurry!" Usopp moans.

"Pika?" I ask; why do we have to hurry?

"There's a cyclone coming!" Chopper answers.

"It won't be long before it hits us; we have to get ready so we can leave as soon as possible!" Nami adds. Luckily, a few moments later, Sanji leaps down back onto the ship.

"What took you so long?" Nami asks.

"I'll tell you later." Sanji says. "We have to leave _now_."

"I know but-wait, what about Luffy?" Nami asks.

"And weren't we bringing the kid's grandpa?" Usopp adds.

Sanji grimaces, "He's going to blow up the boiler." He says, making Anaguma freeze. "We have less than a minute before this place goes up." I look at Anaguma sadly as her face is a mixture of horror and anger.

"Alright, let's go!" Nami says. "We have less than a minute to get a safe distance away so let's hustle!"

"W-Wait!" Anaguma's plea is ignored as everyone scurries around getting ready to sail, and in no time we're moving away from Gasparde's ship. Chopper and I lead a frantic Anaguma into the galley where most of us gather to stay out of the rain.

"What are you doing?!" Anaguma nearly screams, grabbing Sanji's jacket. "We can't just leave Grandpa; why didn't you save him?! Why?!"

"Pikachu pi, pikachu!" _'Anaguma, calm down!'_ I exclaim, pulling her overalls to try and pry her away from Sanji.

"What about Luffy?" Usopp asks.

"There's nothing we can do," Sanji answers, "We'll come back for him later."

"But grandpa-" Anaguma is cut off as Zoro gives her a hard hit to the back of the head. I squeak in alarm as I barely stop her head from directly hitting the hardwood floor with my back.

"Zoro! What are you doing?!" Chopper demands, running over to help me.

"He's better off this way." Zoro answers.

"How could you do that?! You need to be more careful!" Chopper exclaims, shifting to heavy point to cradle her. The movement makes Anaguma's hat fall off, letting her long brown hair flow, catching both Zoro and Sanji off guard.

"Didn't you know?!" Chopper demands, checking her over. "She's just a little girl!"

"T-That kid was a girl the whole time?!" Zoro exclaims.

"Pikachu!" _'No duh!'_ I say, smacking my head.

"You bastard! You have to be more careful; girl's are delicate!" Sanji snaps.

"Shut up! You didn't know either until now!"

"So what?! You still should've been gentle!"

Chopper gets her back to the makeshift bed and puts an ice pack on her head to bring down any swelling that hit might've caused, while in the background, Sanji attempts to kick Zoro's face in for hitting a girl.

It doesn't take long for us to reach the nearby island and we tie the ship down as best we can before taking refuge in a nearby cave while Usopp and Nami remain outside to watch the ship and for Luffy. Anaguma wakes up shortly after we get settled in the cave and freaks out the moment she realizes the absence of her hat.

"Don't worry, it's okay." Chopper reassures her.

"Pikachu." I agree, resting a paw on her leg. Anaguma calms down at our presence; guess she's warmed up enough to us.

"That was quite the secret you were carrying." Robin remarks, cutting right to the chase. "Any particular reason?"

Anaguma bites her lip and brings her legs up to her chest, "It was Grandpa's idea." She says softly. "When he found me, the ship he worked on was taken over by Gasparde; so he said it would be safer if they thought I was a boy and his assistant." We all nod; that makes sense. Knowing Gasparde, I'm surprised he didn't punt her off the ship anyway for being a little kid.

"So you kept your true identity a secret for your own safety." Robin concludes with a slight frown; I guess she understands to a degree. She had to apparently go through the same thing, after all.

"You don't have to tell us all the details, if it's too hard for you." Sanji says gently. "But if you don't mind, could you at least tell us your name?"

Anaguma is silent for a few moments until we catch something under her breath. "Adelle…" She whispers. "Adelle Bascúd…"

A smile comes to my face; that's a really nice name. Much more fitting than Anaguma.

Adelle says nothing more after that and we don't press her. I climb into her lap and she wraps her arms around me, holding my close to her chest. "Grandpa…" She whispers.

I give her a sad look and nuzzle her, hoping to reassure her for now. Robin makes two hands appear to wrap a blanket around us and we all sit in silence for the rest of the night.

* * *

The next morning, I wake up, still being crushed in Ana- I mean, Adelle's tiny arms. Everyone else has dozed off too, except Robin; such an early bird. I squirm out of Adelle's grasp, waking her up in the process. Her eyes fly open and she sits up, probably having forgotten where she was. "Grandpa…" She breathes.

She gets to her feet and hurries out of the cave and I follow. We run to the shore and gaze out towards the ocean, but Gasparde's ship is nowhere to be seen. It was as if the storm had completely erased it from the world.

I grip Adelle's overalls, hoping to keep her grounded, but I can't help but worry as well. As strong as Luffy is...I hope he made it out of there. I leave Adelle to keep watch and rouse the others, all of them waking up quickly after remembering what last night entailed.

Sanji makes us a quick breakfast, enough to at least get us up and moving, and Nami and Robin take Adelle to the ship to get cleaned up. She comes out a while later, freshly cleaned and wearing a little dress that Nami wore as a kid. Now all we can do is wait.

We all take turns keeping watch, getting the ship ready when we're off duty, but Adelle stays out on watch the whole time. Eventually, I go out and join her, bringing some rice balls out for us to share. She eats them, but doesn't take her eyes off the ocean. Not that I blame her; she must be worried sick.

When it nears noon, Usopp comes out with us for his round of guard duty, and our patience is soon rewarded. Out in the distance is a little lifeboat, heading in our direction. Usopp pulls down his goggles and hones in on the boat.

"Well? Is it him?" Adelle asks impatiently.

To our delight, Usopp breaks into a wide and relieved grin, "It's Luffy! And the old man! They're here!" He exclaims. "But I'm not sure who the other guy is…"

However, Adelle's already screaming and waving down the boat. "Hey! Grandpa! We're here! Grandpa!"

I smile and wave with her, "Pika pika!" _'About time you guys made it!'_

Usopp runs and gets the others, and the boat pulls into shore, leading Adelle to practically tackle her grandpa. Everyone else comes out to greet them only to have Chopper screech in alarm at Luffy's condition. It's not as bad as other fights he's had, but he's definitely seen better days. Luckily, it doesn't take him long to wake up (and for Zoro to shove his hat back onto his head), and he doesn't even need that many bandages; a majority of his injuries are just bruises.

We bring Adelle, her grandpa and the other guy onto the ship, who was the same injured guy from Gasparde's ship (and a bounty hunter, no less) and Chopper patches him up too.

However, the whole situation quickly becomes very awkward. Adelle's grandpa tells us that the Bounty Hunter guy and Adelle are actually brother and sister. They were separated when Gasparde attacked their island and killed their parents, and Grandpa saved her, but she lost her memory.

It was certainly a shock for Adelle, but I don't blame her. I felt the exact same way when I found out that Sandy was actually one of my best friends from childhood. But on the bright side, at least they have a chance to start over and be together...a chance I never got. I smile sadly as I touch my Muscle Band on my tail.

"Oh yeah, Sanji!" Luffy suddenly exclaims, catching Sanji's attention. "Are you a genius or something?!"

"Huh?"

"How did you know that white stuff would work?" Luffy asks, his face bright with excitement.

"It's called flour, dumbass." Sanji answers. "And I'm a cook; any basic chef knows how to keep stuff like candy syrup from sticking to surfaces."

I tilt my head and a smile comes to my face; that must've been what Sanji was getting! He gave Luffy flour so he could actually hit the guy! Look at Mister Strategist over here!

After that, Grandpa actually gives us the real Eternal pose of the real goal island. He had taken it as he thought it would be the perfect place to continue raising Adelle and give her brother a place to stay, so no more Marine strongholds for us! With a proper Eternal Pose in hand, it isn't long before the real island comes into view.

"Is that it?" Chopper asks.

Nami nods, "No doubt, that's the goal island; which means..." We all look at each other excitedly.

"WE WON!"

"PIKA!" We all laugh and cheer. I spin around with Chopper and leap onto Sanji's shoulder with a triumphant smile. However, our victory is short lived.

"MARINES!" Usopp yells. "When the hell did they get here?!" Nami shrieks.

Don't tell me they were waiting for us! Arceus damn you to hell, karma!

Adelle, her brother, and Grandpa gather up their few belongings and we hurry them into the lifeboat. They have to move now before the Marines see them!

"But why?" Adelle demands. "Why won't you just tell them that you saved us?" I sigh; I wish it were that easy, kid.

"Are you kidding? The Marines would never listen to us!" Usopp says.

"We're pirates, after all." Nami adds with a shrug. "We have no choice but to retreat when they come along."

"But...But…" Adelle stammers, tears pricking her eyes.

"You're going to a new island to rebuild your life, so you can't be seen associating with us." Nami continues before smiling. "And remember, don't go around treating your life like it's nothing, okay?" She gives one final wave and walks off.

"Take care!" Usopp calls.

"You're sure to be a fine young lady one day." Sanji says.

"And when you do, be careful who you pick fights with." Robin adds.

"Work hard." Zoro chimes.

"And take care of yourselves!" Chopper calls with a wave.

I look back at the others and nod. I quickly leap down onto the lifeboat and right into Adelle's arms, catching her by surprise. I give her a nuzzle and a kiss before smiling up at her, "Pika pika!" _'You be careful out there!'_

Adelle stares at me before a tearful smile comes to her face and she nods. "Bye Pika-chan." She gives me one last squeeze, rubbing her cheek against mine, and I quickly scamper up the rope back to the Merry before the rope is cut. I give the girl one last wave with Luffy before hurrying back to the main deck. I stop as I see Nami, leaning on the railing, looking pretty down.

"Well, this is a surprise." Zoro remarks. "I never thought that you'd actually give up on that prize money." I gape; do you _want_ to get pounded?

"It couldn't be helped…" Nami says dangerously. "I mean we had no choice right?!" I sigh as Nami starts strangling Zoro; poor girl needs to take her anger out on something.

"C'mon, it's okay!" Luffy says with a toothy smile. "Don't worry, we're going to Sky Island, after all; there's bound to be treasure there!"

"He's right," Sanji says, stepping up. "But for now, we should probably take care of these guys." We look back to see the Marines still gaining on us.

"I'm tired of being a poor pirate…" Nami moans, slumping. "How do you guys always stay so upbeat?"

I leap onto the railing and pat her arm reassuringly, "Pika pikachu." _'Don't worry, our luck will turn around.'_

Nami then perks up, "Listen up; we have to lose these ships so we can continue sailing to Jaya!" She yells. "So get moving!"

"Yes, my dear!" Sanji says.

"Alright!" Luffy cheers, clenching his fists. "Let's go! Continue on to Jaya!"

"Aye!"

"Chu!"

* * *

 **I think the Straw Hats should just leave child-care in Pika-chan's paws from now on; it's clearly a pro. Guess all that experience from baby-sitting Apis and Akisu paid off XD**

 **Alright, next chapter we will be arriving in Jaya and the plot towards Skypiea will continue!**


	58. Mock Town

**Alright, before we get started, just a quick announcement:**

 **This weekend I am going on a tour with my college choir so I will be unable to update for over ten days. I should be back and home by May 25th and if I have the ability to post the next chapter by the Friday of that week, I'll post it. If not on Friday, then Saturday or Sunday.**

 **So just to clarify, we're not getting a chapter next week. Sorry XP**

 **Now, on with the story!**

* * *

Thanks to the Marines chasing us, we actually made some good time in getting to Jaya. Soon we're sailing into the port of one of the island's towns, Mock Town.

"Woooow! Check it out, this island looks great!" Luffy exclaims.

"Is it just me or does this place look like a resort?" Usopp asks excitedly. I gotta say, it looks really nice here. There's plenty of stores, restaurants and hotels. A place like this must be pretty peaceful.

"This does look promising." Nami agrees. "Maybe we can stay here awhile." I certainly wouldn't mind that. After that whole Dead End Race fiasco, I think we deserve some rest before getting to Sky Island.

As we draw closer, I sit on the front railing and look to see multiple ships docked in the harbor. My ears twitch as I look closer to see that the ships are quite big with notable figureheads, and their flags are all Jolly Rogers. Pirate ships? "Pika pika." I say, pointing to the ships.

Usopp comes over next to me and follows my paw, "Huh...either I'm starting to hallucinate, or the harbor over there is full of pirate ships."

"Pika." I say with a nod.

"Don't be silly, you two!" Nami says, smacking Usopp's arm playfully. "Since when can pirate ships dock their ship in a harbor without being run out of town?"

I give her a look, pointing at the ships again. "Pikachu." _'See for yourself.'_

"You're right, it must be a joke." Usopp says with an uneasy smile.

"Pika pi." I say irritably, pointing at the ships with a bit more vigor. _'They look pretty legit to me.'_

"C'mon Pika-chan, it's nothing!" Nami insists, picking me off the railing and turning me away from the ships, "There's nothing here, it's just a peaceful little-"

"HE'S GONNA KILL ME!" We all look towards the harbor just in time to see the ending of a fight, resulting in a man lying beaten on the ground. Usopp, Nami, and Chopper jump.

"What the heck is going on with this crazy town?!"

"Pikachu…" _'I told you…'_

We pull into port and it's pretty clear now. This is a pirate town, no rules or law, just chaos. I take back what I said about this place being peaceful. Luffy and Zoro jump off the ship, eager to take a look.

"Now this is my kind of town." Luffy says with a grin.

"We'll have no problem fitting in here." Zoro agrees. Oh yeah, no need to worry in that department.

"Do you think those two can last an hour without getting into trouble?" Nami asks.

"In this place, I think fifteen minutes is a generous assumption." Usopp says.

I roll my eyes when my ears twitch. I turn to see Robin leaping off the ship, completely unbeknownst to anyone. Guess she wants to explore too. Now that I think about it, I think Robin is the safest person to be around in a town like this, and I do want to stretch my legs, so…

I move on the railing and call out to Sanji, "Pika!"

"What's up?" He asks.

"Pika pi, pikachu." I say, pointing to the town.

"You wanna go too?" Sanji asks, and I nod. He gives me shrug, "Alright, just stay out of trouble and be back in an hour, got it?"

I nod and inwardly roll my eyes; yes _Dad_. I leap off the ship just in time to see Nami run after Luffy and Zoro; guess she wants to hold the leash this time. I quickly catch up with Robin and she smiles down at me, "Oh, do you wish to accompany me for a while?"

"Pika pika!" I chirp with a smile.

Robin giggles, "Alright, I could use the company." I smile and we walk through the town. I stick close to Robin as pirates run and wander around everywhere, getting drunk, getting in fights, shouting insults, basic pirate stuff. "This place is certainly lively." Robin comments.

"Pika." I say with a nod.

Robin says she wants to get some supplies for herself, like clothes. Oh yeah, I forgot that she's been wearing Nami's clothes all this time. We eventually arrive at a clothes store and I repress a sigh; Robin's bound to not spend as much time with clothes as Nami.

"Don't feel obligated to wait for me." Robin says suddenly, catching my attention. "I know you don't like shopping, so you're free to wander around if you want."

My eyes widen, "Pika?" _'Really?'_

Robin gives me a smile, "You're responsible enough to go off on your own; go and explore a little."

A smile comes to my face, "Pikachu!" I say happily and start to trot off.

"Just be sure to return to ship in an hour like the cook said, or I'll send him after you."

I freeze and face Robin; she wouldn't dare! My hopes are dashed as she keeps smiling at me before she disappears into the shop. I grimace; she would totally do it. She would totally rat me out! Well, better keep a good eye on the clock then; the last thing I want is Sanji coming through looking for me.

As I wander around, managing to avoid fights as well as pick up some information about the pirates in this town. Apparently, a lot of big names with bounties are here, the highest one so far being Bellamy, who has a 55 million berri bounty, a decent number above Luffy's bounty. From what I can tell, pirates who come here just pretty much do whatever they want without consequence. I guess that's understandable; I wouldn't want to try and set rules and limits for pirates who could easily overpower and kill you. If this place did have laws and stuff, it could probably be a pretty relaxing place for normal people. For pirates, this is probably paradise.

"What's going on here?" I stop as I realize that I've wandered near the entrance of a fancy looking hotel. I watch as a tall guy wearing a fur coat with a lady on his arm enters the hotel. "What are these people doing here?"

I peek inside to see Luffy, Zoro, and Nami standing inside next to another person who I guess is the hotel manager. "I'm so sorry sir! I tried to get them to leave but they wouldn't listen!" The manager cries.

"I don't care, just get rid of them!" The girl snaps. "We're paying a lot of money to have this place to ourselves." These guys rented out this entire place? Wow, they must be loaded! I tilt my head at the strange mark on Fur Coat's jacket; he had the same mark on his chest too. Didn't I hear someone say that that was Bellamy's symbol? So are these two with Bellamy? No wonder the guy's been making a name for himself here, if he has the highest bounty and tons of money.

"Hey guys, can I beat him up?" Luffy asks.

"NO!" Nami and the manager yell. I guess Nami really doesn't want Luffy and Zoro to draw attention and cause trouble. That's quite the task she has ahead of her.

"You? Beat me up? That's hilarious!" Fur Coat laughs. My eyes widen as he suddenly throws money at Luffy's feet. "Those are rags you're wearing; go and buy some new rags so you don't look like an orphan!" A scowl grows on my face; this guy is one dirty scumbag.

"C'mon, you're wasting your money, tossing it to these losers!" The girl laughs.

"You're right; I should've flushed it down with my lunch!" Fur Coat agrees with a laugh. I growl softly under my breath as Nami and Zoro's anger washes over me like a heat wave. I wonder if this Bellamy guy is as despicable as his crewmate?

I quickly wander away while Nami drags Luffy out of the hotel, Zoro following and I continue my walk. I need to cool my head after watching that shameless display. Who does that fur coated punk think he is?

I wander around for a while longer until I hear a loud crash. My ears twitch and I look to the side seeing a bar. My curiosity grows as I see multiple people run out of the bar in a frenzy. I wander over and peek through one of the front windows, hanging on the windowsill and my eyes widen at the sight. Luffy's face is being pressed down by a tall man's hand wearing a blue jacket.

My ears twitch as I hear a familiar laugh and look to see Fur Coat, "Brilliant move, Bellamy, brilliant!" He laughs. So that guy in the jacket is Bellamy…

Zoro holds Wado to Bellamy's throat and Luffy slowly gets up. I think it's safe to say that Nami can't stop the impending fight. She apparently picks up on this and faces the bartender, "Sir, we're trying to get to the Sky Island, do you know anything about it?"

I frown as the bar falls into silence. A second later, the pirates (who I can only assume are part of Bellamy's crew) all erupt into roaring laughter. I stare in shock as they begin mocking and teasing Nami for so much as mentioning Sky Island, making her turn bright red.

"I can't believe you're putting hope into such a ridiculous legend!" Bellamy laughs, sitting at the ruined bar. "As well as how little you know!" I listen carefully as he explains that near these parts there's a weird current called the Knock Up Stream, a strong blast of water that shoots straight up into the sky. Apparently every now and then, ships get caught up in this stream and are shot millions of miles into the sky and then fall back down a few days later, making people assume that there's an island in the sky.

"Anything supernatural always has an explanation!" Bellamy sneers. "I was going to let you join my crew if you passed the test of the New Era, but it seems that you're a lost cause." My ears twitch; New Era? "The time of pirates' dreams are over! The city of gold, the Sky Island, even the great One Piece; pirates chase these fictional treasures and fail to notice the real treasures around them!"

My paws slowly tighten on the windowsill; he's denouncing Luffy's dream! What right does he have to say what does and doesn't exist?! It's what Luffy wants and he decides how to get it! This Bellamy guy is insane if he thinks he can try and change what others believe in just by shooting them down!

"So when I see people dreaming of the One Piece…" Bellamy steps towards Luffy. "I get disgusted!" I flinch as he lands a hard punch on Luffy's face, sending him to the ground. "As long as you dreamers are running around, you make us real pirates look like trash!"

The rest of the pirates start jeering and laughing at my friends, throwing their glasses and drinks at them, urging Bellamy to take them apart. I start to growl, sparks starting to fly from my cheeks when Luffy sits up. "Zoro…" he says softly. "Whatever happens...don't fight back."

My eyes widen and my sparks stop. Why doesn't he want to fight back? I guess...he knows that violence won't change his mind. Sure it might hammer in that Luffy and Zoro aren't people to be messed with, but I doubt that will change Bellamy's philosophy. No matter what they do, Bellamy and his gang will still mock them for their beliefs. At least, I think that's what it is.

Bellamy laughs like a hyena and I hold my breath as the beat down begins. I wince and cringe as the pirates barrage Luffy and Zoro with everything they have, whether it be chairs, bottles, or even tables. I allow a few growls to escape as I watch the beat down, but I stay put. Luffy and Zoro wouldn't fight back without a damn good reason, so I just have to have faith in that.

I manage to keep sparks from coming from my cheeks so as not to draw attention to myself; I simply watch and allow my anger to grow as the laughter of the pirates echoes in my ears. After what feels like forever, they finally stop. Zoro and Luffy are on the ground and not getting back up, most likely by choice.

Nami kneels by their sides and Fur Coat speaks up. "Hey, sweet thing. If you keep hanging around with those two, you're gonna get left behind when the New Era rolls around." He gives a sick smile. "How about I buy you?"

Nami freezes and I feel something snap. That's the last straw. These guys are gonna pay.

"Take your two friends and get out of my sight before I decide otherwise." Bellamy sneers. I duck as Nami exits, dragging Luffy and Zoro along with her. My frown grows deeper as I feel the humiliation and anger radiating off her.

I nod and face the darkened pub, making sure the three are well enough away to not see me. I feel a feeling that I've never felt before, and it goes beyond anger. My pulse is speeding up dramatically and I can feel all my senses increasing. I can hear every word and smell every scent in that pub.

I peek through the window, my eyes becoming focused, honing in on the pirates inside. I've said before that no one spares me a second glance thanks to my size and appearance; no one here would even suspect that I was in a pirate crew. I think it's high time I finally use that to my advantage.

Without any hesitation, I move towards the entrance. I enter the pub, easily slipping under the door, my tail only brushing the underside of it. I look around and notice that Bellamy isn't here. He probably slipped out when I wasn't looking but I really couldn't care less. He'll get what's coming to him one day.

I stand in the middle of the ruined pub, all the pirates too busy congratulating themselves for their cheap victory to notice me. They won't be laughing for long when I'm done with them. Sparks fly from my cheeks and lightning surrounds me like a transparent orb.

Just when the pirates notices me, I fill the entire pub with lightning.

It's a short blast, probably only looking like a flash of light from outside, but it leaves the pirates all against the walls with some pretty nasty burns. A few of the weaker ones are twitching on the ground, their skin nearly black. The tables and chairs are overturned and all striped with burn lines, like black lightning bolts, while glass shards litter the floor from destroyed plates and mugs. Even the lightbulbs got so overloaded, they shattered.

The pirates all moan in pain and start to get up; that's my cue to leave. Right now, they have no idea who or what I am, so I know my friends won't get the blame for this. Luffy's order won't be disgraced. I move and leap onto the windowsill.

"What the hell was what?!" Someone exclaims, and I easily recognize the voice of Fur Coat.

I turn ever so slightly and glare at him, my eyes glinting dangerously in the sunlight peeking in. The guy flinches and says nothing more; through the dark, I can tell that he seems pretty shaken. That's enough for me.

I leap through the window and quickly scamper away before anyone can look out the window and notice me. I leap up onto a roof and take a deep breath; that was quite the experience! I don't think I've ever gotten this mad before; my paws are still shaking and my heart is going a mile a minute!

But it wasn't like those bastards didn't deserve it; it may not teach them to mess with my friends, but at least I got a chance to show them a thing or two. I understand Luffy and Zoro's want to not fight, but there was no way I was letting scumbags like those Bellamy guys get away with this.

It's the first lesson we Straw Hats drive into our enemies' heads: if you threaten one of us, you threaten all of us. If you hurt one of our own, you can be damn sure that one of us will get revenge. And we won't stop until you've felt a hundred times more pain than what you inflicted on our crewmates.

I blink and stop my thought process; it's just hit me how deadly I'm starting to sound. When did I get so protective of my crewmates? In fact, it's happened since the beginning and become way more prominent as we've sailed.

Slamming my tail into the skull of that Pearly Guy on the Baratie, wanting to completely destroy Arlong when he threatened Nami, zapping that water lady on Clockwork Island multiple times for hurting Sanji, obliterating the Whetton guys when they threatened Chopper and Sanji, and now I've wiped out the most dangerous crew in town.

All because they threatened my friends.

I mean, yeah, they're my friends, so of course I'm willing to help them... but when did I become completely fine with showing no mercy in fights when it comes to protecting them? I know that my friends are strong; they can take care of themselves. All those times I fought on their behalf, I knew that they would be just fine, it's not like they were dying or anything.

I just...let loose. All I cared about was taking out the ones who wanted to hurt my friends...no matter what it took.

I look up at the sky; is this just another thing we Pokémon are willing to do? Sandy did say that Pokémon are made to serve their Masters, even though the Straw Hats aren't my Masters. Are Pokémon willing to do anything to protect the humans they care about? Have I always been this aggressive? Was I always like this, even before I lost my memory?

...No…

I feel the slightest tug from the back of my head. It's not a feeling...it's almost like...instinct. It's like when my friends are down, something just tells me to step up my game and show no mercy.

I look down at my paws, having finally stopped shaking. I have no idea what happened in that pub but that show back there wasn't just an anger-fueled rampage. It was something else...something deeper…

But it looks like it's something that I'll have to think on another day. I should probably get back to the ship; my hour's almost up and Nami probably wants to leave as soon as possible.

I leap off the roof and hurry through town, staying out of sight the best I can until I find Robin, carrying her clothes bags. "Hello." She greets as I approach her. "Did you have a good walk?"

"Pika." I say with a simple nod. No need to go into details, mostly because she wouldn't understand anyway.

"I'm sure you were able to let off a little steam as well?" My head snaps back up to Robin who's giving me a knowing smile. I gape; don't tell me she saw the whole thing?! "I must admit, you put on quite a show in there."

I whine and lower my head in defeat; can I hide anything from her?

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." Robin says with a laugh. "From the looks of it, those pirates had it coming."

I sigh, my ears wilting greatly. I hope Robin's serious about not telling; Nami will have my head and then Sanji will cook my remains for dinner. "Pikachu?" I ask, pointing to her bags to change the subject.

"Well, I got some new clothes, and some information about Skypiea." My ears perk up.

"Pika?" _'Really?'_

Robin chuckles, "I'll tell you once we get to the ship; I think everyone should be present to hear this." I nod and we continue towards the ship. When we get there, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami have made it back with Chopper tending their wounds and Nami is berating Zoro and Luffy for not fighting back.

"Sounds like we missed some excitement." Robin says as we board the ship. Well...kinda.

"Welcome back, Robin!" Sanji croons. My eyes twitches; Sanji, do _not_ make me come up there.

As Robin goes to put her new clothes away, she uses an extra hand to hand Luffy a map of Jaya. According to the information she got, there's a man there named Montblanc Cricket who was exiled to the other side of the island because he 'talked about his dreams too much'. That sounds familiar.

"We should totally pay this guy a visit!" Luffy says. Well, it's the best lead we've got, so why not?

I sit by the mast, a safe distance away from Nami as she continues to lash out at anyone who even looks at her funny. I would go over and try to calm her down, being the ship's therapist and all, but I value my life soooo…

We raise anchor and set sail right away, wanting to get away from this place. We sail along the coast when another ship appears in our path. I jump onto Sanji's shoulder as he, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all stand at the helm. Wait...this boat looks familiar...like a weird banana boat we ran into a few days earlier...

"Well, it didn't take long to run into something weird." Luffy remarks. "You think it's that same salvager's ship?"

Sanji shakes his head, "No, it's similar, but it's not Masira's group." Yeah he's right; this looks more like a monkey boat instead of a banana boat.

We watch as a large figure appears at the helm of the big boat, "I can't believe I got worked up wondering who you people were!" He looks a lot like a monkey, like Masira, only his face is much weirder and he has long hair.

We all stare at him in silence until Luffy breaks it. "Your face looks weird; what species are you?" Geez, that's pretty blunt.

"I'm human, moron!" The monkey snaps.

"Are you saying you don't know who Shoujo is?!" Someone demands as his crewmates start yammering and chattering angrily.

Are we sure they're not monkeys? I've seen Aipoms that yammer less! Wait, I have? And...Aipoms? Dammit, another mystery word; better write it down later.

Shoujo waves his hand, "Now now, these people obviously aren't a threat to me, so let's get to know each other." He says. "I'll start; did you know I haven't cut my hair my whole life, for twenty five years? You're impressed, right?"

"That's lame." Luffy answers. Yeah, it kinda is…

The Shoujo pirates start to chatter up again but Shoujo calms them down. He starts going on about something having to do with rage and blood, but really we couldn't care less.

"Whatever, let us pass." Luffy says. "We have places to go!"

"You don't get it do you?!" Shoujo yells. "This is my turf and anyone who crosses it either pays the toll or is sunk!"

"His turf?" Usopp asks. "He's starting to sound a lot like Masira."

"Masira said stuff like that?" Luffy asks. You better believe it.

"Masira?" Shoujo suddenly speaks up. "What about Masira?"

"If you must know, we kicked his butt off our boat a few days ago." Luffy answers.

"YOU WHAT?!" Shoujo explodes. I take it they know each other.

"Hold on, listen; we did kick him off but I'm sure he's alive." Luffy tries to say, but Shoujo isn't listening.

With a cry, he whips out a microphone on its stand. "Havoc Sonar!" And with that, he begins to sing. Or rather, scream into the microphone.

My eyes widen as sound waves begin to emit from him and it doesn't take long for my ears to explode in pain. I cry out and cover my ears, falling off Sanji's shoulder in the process.

"Whoa, Pika-chan!" Sanji barely catches me and I curl into myself, crying in pain and covering my ears as tightly as I can. Even though the waves are destroying Shoujo's ship, the pitch and frequency is killing me! This is worse than Laboon's cries!

"Quick, let's use this to our advantage and get out of here!" Nami yells.

Sanji places me next to the mast so as not to fall of the ship and everyone runs around, steering us away from Shoujo.

After what feels like forever, the sound finally disappears and I let go of my ears with a sigh. I tap them, making sure they're still working and take in the damage. Looks like a number of boards are cracked and snapped thanks to the sound waves, but we're still floating, so I guess we're fine.

I sigh in relief as we sail on. I really hope this Cricket guy has some info on Sky Island; so far, these flaming hoops that lead to Sky Island really aren't worth it.

* * *

 **PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one that HATES BELLAMY WITH A BURNING PASSION! Maybe it's because he's under Doflamingo, and NO ONE likes that asshole. I haven't really watched Dressrosa in its entirety so I haven't really seen his 'redemption' if that's what we're calling it, but as of the Jaya arc, he can die in a fire for all I care. Just WATCHING the Jaya scenes with him make me want to reach through the screen and rip his head off along with Sarquiss and all his goddamn stuck up crewmates! I HATE HIM!**

 **Actually, now that I think about it, maybe I hate Sarquiss more cause that asshole NEVER SHUTS UP! ...Eh, never mind, I don't like ANY of Bellamy's guys. They can all die in a fire too.**

 ***deep breath* Well, at least Pika-chan was able to embody my rage towards him. Maybe when I actually WATCH all of Dressrosa I'll feel differently, and Pika-chan too when this story reaches Dressrosa...in like twenty years XD**

 **And BTW, that whole 'aggression' thing that Pika-chan was debating with itself? Yeah, that'll make sense soon *rubs hands together evilly***


	59. Cricket

**I'M BACK! LET'S GET THIS THING ROLLING AGAIN!**

 **Alright, remember how I said that the Jaya transition into Skypiea was gonna be different? Well, this is where it's gonna happen. I tried changing it to flow as smoothly as I could, which was harder than it looked. Don't worry, it'll all work out in the end, trust me!**

 **Ugh! Writing exposition episodes makes me want to bang my head against something! Cause I know you guys know this stuff already so I don't want to rehash too much! At least it was fun writing the South Bird bits...**

* * *

I wasn't sure what I was expecting what we reached the other side of the island, but a giant castle definitely wasn't one of them.

"Whoa! He lives here?! It's a freaking palace!" Luffy exclaims.

"This Montblanc Cricket guy must be loaded!" Usopp agrees.

A strange scent hits my nose and I frown. Paint and wood? Oh...I get it. Yeah, I wouldn't get your hopes up, Usopp.

"Take a closer look; it's just a fake." Zoro says.

"It's really unattractive." Sanji comments. Sure enough, the castle part is just a big wooden cutout covering the real house which is just a tiny hut that actually looks like it's been cut in half.

"Why exactly did Cricket leave and come here?" Nami asks Robin.

"I don't know all the details, but I think it has something to do with his belief that there's gold buried in the hills of Jaya." Robin answers.

"Gold?!" Nami exclaims excitedly. Dammit, why does everyone always push 'treasure' button around Nami? I don't want to know how many flaming hoops in space we have to jump through this time!

We drop anchor and disembark. Luffy checks out the house uninvited, in typical Luffy fashion, Nami sends Chopper to dig around for gold and I leap onto Sanji's shoulder as we walk around. My eyes eventually fall on a few tree stumps that are set up kind of like a table and chairs and I see something lying there that looks like a book. I leap off Sanji's shoulder and onto the biggest stump and pick up the book, gazing at the cover. 'Noland the Liar'.

"What have you got there, Pika-chan?" Sanji asks, coming up to me.

"Pika pika." I answer, handing him the book.

Sanji gazes at the title and his eyes widen, "Noland the Liar?" To my surprise, a smile graces Sanji's face as he flips through the pages, "Man, this takes me back! I haven't heard this story in ages!"

I leap onto his shoulder, "Pika?" _'Do you know it?'_ I ask, pointing to the book.

"What did you find Sanji?" Nami asks, coming over to us along with Usopp. She takes the book and looks at the cover, "Noland the Liar?"

Sanji nods, "It's a famous fairy tale from my home that's said to be based on a true story. They always told it to us kids to keep us from lying."

Nami frowns, "I've never heard of it; it says that it was published in the North Blue."

"That's right; I was born in the North Blue."

My ears twitch and I look at him, "Pika?" I ask in surprise.

Sanji looks at me, "What, did I never tell you that?"

"Chu." I shake my head.

"I always thought you were born in the East Blue." Usopp says, voicing my thoughts.

"I was raised in the East Blue." Sanji clarifies. That's odd; why would Sanji forget to mention that he was born in the North and not the East? Well, he did meet Zeff in the East when he was pretty young so he probably didn't stay in the North for long, but that just raises further questions! Maybe I'll ask him about it later.

I carefully slide down Sanji's arm to move down onto Nami's shoulder as she skims the book. It seems the story is about a man named Montblanc Noland who always told tall tales. One day, he told his king that he found a city of gold so they set out to find it. But when they got to the island there was no gold to be found and Noland was sentenced to death for lying to the king. His last words were that he believed the gold sunk to the bottom of the ocean before being publicly executed. I grimace at the end; that's a pretty morbid fairy tale. I can understand why the adults used this story to keep kids from lying.

Just then, we hear a familiar scream from Luffy followed by a loud splash. "Who the hell are you?!" We all turn to see a tall muscular man with a strange bulb on his head climb out of the water. "This is my land so I suggest you leave!"

"Usopp, hurry and fish Luffy out!" Sanji orders. "Pika-chan! Let's go!"

"Pika!" We run towards the strange man and Sanji gives me a nod. Without missing a beat and without slowing down, Sanji holds out his foot and I leap onto it. Sanji slings me towards the man and I ready my Iron Tail, giving a hard flip. To my surprise, the man actually blocks it, crossing his arms.

Sanji runs up but the man throws a good kick towards Sanji who dodges. Sanji ducks and they both throw a few kicks at one another until the man catches Sanji's leg with his wrist. I quickly leap up between them, another Iron Tail ready and knock the offending arm away only to see the mouth of a pistol aimed right at my face. I barely register Sanji's arm wrapping around me before he slides his leg out, allowing us both to duck as the pistol goes off. That was close!

Sanji releases me and the man starts firing rapidly at us; I quickly move away to safety but Sanji's still trying to dodge the bullets. This is probably the best chance I have to paralyze him. I start to charge up and Zoro gets ready to charge in when the man wavers.

Our eyes widen as the man suddenly drops the pistol before collapsing, moaning in pain. I slowly approach the man and frown in concern and confusion; this guy looks really pale and in genuine pain. I only hit him twice without much power; that alone shouldn't have made him pass out so easily. What on earth happened to him?

Once we fish Luffy out we get the man inside his house, putting him to bed while Chopper looks him over. Chopper diagnoses the man with Caisson's Disease, and illness caused by gas bubbles in the blood when returning from deep under the ocean. He says that the man was most likely diving everyday and not allowing his body enough time to recover, and it finally caught up with him.

Sheesh, I'm glad he passed out before I stunned him; that probably would've made him worse. But still, why would he be diving everyday in the first place? I look around the house until my eyes fall on a picture, hanging up on the wall. It shows the man as well as...Masira and Shoujo? Wait...does this guy know them?

Right on cue, two giant familiar heads burst through the door, "Hey old-timer! Are you alright?!" Chopper and Usopp start freaking out, making me visibly cringe from their screams; it's too soon for this! My ears still ache from that sonar scream!

"What in the world are you people doing here?!" Shoujo demands.

"And what are you doing to our friend?!" Masira adds.

"We're trying to help him." Luffy answers calmly. "So why don't you lend us a hand or find someone else to bother." Man, even Luffy sounds like he's sick of them popping up everywhere! Luckily, the two believe us, and even thank us, and things become peaceful once again.

After a while, the man wakes up and apologizes for attacking us. He apparently thought we were here to steal his gold. "Did someone say gold?!" Nami, no! Down girl!

Anyway, turns out this man is the Montblanc Cricket we've been looking for. "We want to know how to get to the Sky Island!" Luffy says. "Do you know anything about it?"

My ears droop as Cricket erupts into laughter, "Don't tell you actually believe that place exists?" I grimace as Usopp holds a dangerous Nami back from hitting him; she's still not over that, huh? Not that I blame her…

"You mean there's no Sky Island?!" Luffy demands.

"I don't know." Cricket says with a chuckle. "I know of only one man who's seen it, but he's considered a famous liar."

Luffy looks at Usopp incredulously. "Don't look at me!" Usopp demands.

My ears perk up, as I remember the book; isn't Noland's full name-

"Noland's full name was Montblanc; are you two related somehow?" Sanji asks, from his spot at the table.

"Yep, Noland's my grandfather's grandfather's grandfather." Cricket answers. "I'm his descendant, but we're so far removed that I don't think a drop of his blood is in me." He goes on to tell us that his family name is still denounced even to this day because of what Noland did, even though his family has said that he was an honest person and wasn't lying when he said he saw a city of gold.

"I get it!" Usopp speaks up. "You're trying to find the city of gold to clear your family name!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" I flinch from my spot on Sanji's lap as Cricket fires a gunshot dangerously close to Usopp. "I couldn't care less if the city exists or not! The actions of my ancestors have nothing to do with my life!" Geez, anger issues much? "You can't even begin to imagine what it's like, growing up ridiculed and laughed at because you're a descendant of that man!" ...Okay, totally justified anger issues.

Cricket tells us that many of his family members set out to prove Noland was right, but they all failed. So Cricket left and became a pirate to get away from his family issues. I look up at Sanji as he tenses up ever so slightly...or did I imagine that?

Anyway, in an ironic twist, Cricket ended up discovering this island where Noland said he saw the city of gold, and he decided to finally settle this matter once and for all. Ever since that day, he's been diving into the ocean, looking for that supposedly sunken city of gold, fulfilling what he believes is his destiny between him and Noland.

"But what about the monkeys?" Luffy asks.

"They're fans of the fairy tale." Cricket answers simply. Well, that's anticlimactic compared to that first part. Apparently, Shoujo and Masira really believe the city exists and are helping Cricket find it. I smile as he says that he enjoys their company despite their antics; that's a lot like us.

He then hands Nami Noland's Log Book and turns to a specific page. Nami reads that Noland came across a ship carrying an object called a Sky Waver and even saw something called a Sky Fish. An object and a creature with sky in the name and are things never seen around here? That's proof enough for me!

Cricket then calls us outside while Sanji, Masira, and Shoujo stay inside to get dinner ready. We all sit around the tree stump, me sitting in the middle as Cricket explains that Sky Island is most likely on a cloud called a Cumulo Regalus, which are so dense that they make a sunny afternoon seem as black as night when they appear. That explains those giants we saw a few days ago when we ran into Masira's group.

He gives us another explanation about the Knock-Up stream, which I remember Bellamy talked about back in Mock Town. Apparently, it appears about five times a month and connects the ocean to the sky in a huge blast of water for only about a minute, so it's a big risk. If we don't catch the stream just right, we'll fall hundreds of feet and, as Usopp put it, 'be blown into fish food'.

Not to mention that the Merry is in no condition to handle a current that strong; I'm surprised she's survived this long. Sanji and Zoro have been talking about getting a new ship, and I think we may need to start thinking about that soon if we keep up this rough pace.

Luckily, Cricket says he can get Masira and Shoujo to refit and reinforce the Merry so she can withstand the explosion. Wow, this guy sure is willing to do a lot for us considering we just met him a few hours ago.

"Hold on, have you really thought about this?" Nami suddenly asks Luffy.

"What?"

Nami sighs and shows him the Log Pose. "Did it slip your mind that, at most, we can only stay a few more days on this island before the Log Pose resets?" She asks. "Thanks to the Dead End Race, we've got a little more time, but we don't have forever if this stream only comes five times every month."

"That's right!" Usopp exclaims, rather happily. "When will the next stream line up with the Cumulo Regalus? Days? Weeks? Months?"

"The next one will be around noon about four days from now." Cricket says. "And on Jaya, the pose doesn't reset for about five days."

"Wait, so we can make it?" Usopp exclaims.

"'Fraid so." Cricket answers. "If you're scared, then don't go."

Usopp frowns and steps towards Cricket, "Hold on; there's something fishy about this whole thing." He says. "We've known you for less than twenty four hours, and not only do you tell us the exact time this Knock Up stream is going to come, but you're also willing to reinforce our ship to get us there, for nothing?" My ears perk up; that's a pretty good point. "When something appears too good to be true, it probably is!" Usopp goes on. "Noland the Liar is your great grand-something or other, right? So how do we know we can trust you?"

Cricket takes a drag on his cigarette and puffs out a cloud of smoke. "From what Masira's told me, the Knock Up streams appear in seven day cycles; the last one appeared three days ago, so I assume that the next one will appear at midday four days from now due south." He then turns and walks past Usopp. "I'm proud to have met a bunch of brave fools like you; you're true pirates." He says, making Usopp flinch.

"Now, let's go inside and eat." Cricket says. "Tonight, I want to make my home, your home, my friends."

Everyone moves towards the house and I turn to Usopp, who's now sitting on the ground. I smile sadly and go up to him, giving him a tap on the knee. "Pika-chan," He says. "Do you think I'm a spineless little coward?"

My ears perk up at the sudden serious question. I move to the front of him and place both my front paws on his legs looking up at him. "Pika pi, pikachu pi pika." _'Yeah you are kinda skittish, but when the going gets tough, you always pull through.'_ I say. _'Besides, not everyone is brave all the time.'_

Usopp looks down at me and I harden my gaze, a smile on my face. _'You may be an idiot like the rest of our crew, but the fact that you've made it this far means that you're braver than you think.'_

Usopp looks at me, a small smile coming to his face and he gives me a pat, "Thanks buddy…"

I smile back; I think I'm really getting the hang of this therapist thing. I'm not sure if he heard exactly what I said, but I think he got the message. These guys are really getting good at reading my expressions!

That night, we party, eat, and drink like pirates do (well, _I_ don't drink). After we eat, Cricket tells us a little more about the city of gold Noland claimed to see, telling us that the most famous landmark was a large golden bell. He even shows us a few of the gold objects he and the monkeys found while diving here. There are a few golden ingots and even a small statue of a strange bird called a South Bird. These few things aren't enough to prove that the city of gold was real, but hey, it's still gold.

As he tells us, he suddenly stops short, "Oh, I almost forgot." he says. "You guys have to go to the forest on the south side of the island and capture one of these South Birds."

"What do we need the bird for?" Sanji asks.

"In four days, the Knock Up stream is gonna appear a few miles south from here; how are you going to get there?" My ears perk up; oh dear, this could be a problem…

"We'll sail due south, obviously." Luffy answers.

"Have you forgotten that this is the Grand Line?" Cricket demands. "You'll be heading for open sea; you won't be able to get your bearings!"

"He's right!" Nami agrees. "Without a land mass to lock on to the Log pose will be useless!"

Cricket nods, "That's why you have to capture a South Bird; they're bodies always point the same direction, since many animals are born with an internal sense of direction."

Luffy laughs, "That makes Zoro dumber than an animal!" Sanji lets out an audible chuckle and I cover my mouth with my paws to hide a snort.

"You may have four days until the Knock Up stream comes, but if you don't catch one of those birds, you can kiss your trip to Sky Island goodbye!" Cricket says.

"And you're telling us this now?!" Luffy exclaims, springing to his feet. "C'mon, let's go get one right now!" Before we can protest, Luffy is shoving us out the door towards the dark woods.

"Luffy, you can't expect us to go stumbling around in the forest in the dead of night?!" Usopp exclaims, but Luffy doesn't answer. Cricket lends us some nets and says that he and the monkeys will start working on refitting the Merry and Luffy drags us into the forest.

Nami hugs herself, "How do we always end up these situations?" She whines.

"Because our captain's an impatient moron." Usopp answers.

"You heard Pops, we have to catch one of those mystery birds or we can't get to Sky Island!" Luffy protests.

"Did you forget that, oh yeah, we have four days before we have to catch the Knock Up stream?" Sanji asks. "We could've easily waited until morning to catch one, it's not like we're going to leave tomorrow."

Luffy tilts his head, "Oh yeah…" He says, earning a smack from Usopp.

"Well, we're already here, so we may as well get it done." Zoro says with a shrug. That is true; if we catch this South Bird tonight, we can relax and get ready without worry.

We all decide to split up into three times since there are three nets so we all head our separate ways. Robin and Zoro head one way, Chopper and Luffy go another, and Nami, Sanji, Usopp, and I go another way.

"Don't worry Nami, no matter what we run into, I'll protect you." Sanji says.

"Me too, Sanji?" Usopp asks weakly.

"Don't be a such a wimp!" Sanji snaps.

"Let's just catch that bird and get out of here!" Nami says, hugging herself.

"Alright, let's all settle down and listen for that peculiar call the old man talked about." Sanji says. We all quiet down and listen carefully.

I close my eyes and hone my senses, my ears on high alert. After a few moments, my ears twitch as a strange call echoes through the forest. "Pika." I say, opening my eyes.

"That sounded peculiar!" Usopp points out.

"You think?" Nami asks flatly.

"Listen again, we have to figure out where it came from." Sanji says. We all go quiet again and we hear another strange call...except this one sounds really close. We all turn and sweat-drop as Usopp attempts to imitate the bird's call to lure it out.

"Moron!" Sanji growls, putting the net over Usopp's head to shut him up.

"What are you catching me for?" Usopp says with an annoyed frown, when his eyes land on something. "Hey, nice accessory Nami, where'd you get it?"

We all turn to Nami only to see a spider crawling on her skirt. "SPIDER!" Nami shrieks and runs away.

The spider flies off her and lands on my head making Sanji jump ten feet in the air. Oh yeah, I almost forgot that he hates spiders. I remember when he saw one in the Baratie in his room; he screamed like a girl!

I snicker at the memory while Usopp gently takes the spider off my head. "What's wrong? It's just a spider." He comments.

"I hate spiders you idiot!" Nami yells as she and Sanji hide behind a nearby bush.

"Get rid of it, Usopp, it might be poisonous!" Sanji agrees.

Usopp however just rolls his eyes; figures, he's scared of everything else but not spiders. "I bet this is some species of tarantula." He says, examining the spider.

I look at it curiously, "Pika?"

"Go ahead, it's okay." Usopp says, holding it out. "They don't bite you unless you make them mad or scare them; I used to wrestle with spiders like this all the time!" Wow, I think that's the first story he's told that I think I actually believe!

I gently reach out and poke the spider, feeling its fuzzy skin. The spider looks up at me showing its multiple tiny eyes and I can't help but smile at the sight as I give it a soft pat. This guy is actually pretty tiny! It's just a few inches bigger than a Joltik! Wait, what? Seriously? A mystery word from a freaking spider?! I gotta remember to write this one down when we get back.

I hold out my arm and the spider slowly crawls from Usopp's hand onto me. I let out a giggle as the bug climbs me; it feels weird but it also kinda tickles!

Usopp grins, "See, nothing to worry about!"

"Are you out of your minds?!" Sanji demands. "Hairy bugs like that totally freak me out!"

"Yeah, they make my skin crawl! Throw it away already!" Nami agrees.

"Really?" Usopp asks. "Cause you don't seem to have a problem with all the centipedes and moths behind you."

I follow Usopp gaze and realize that there's a lot of movement going on behind Sanji and Nami. Nami and Sanji scream at the top of their lungs and run off deeper into the forest.

"Hey! Wait, don't leave us here!" Usopp hollers running after them.

I quickly place the spider on the ground and hurry after them, "Pikachu!"

We run for a while when we hear a multitude of South Birds calling. My ears twitch as I then hear something that sounds like rustling.

"Do you hear that?" Usopp asks.

"Yeah, but it doesn't sound like a bird." Sanji agrees.

I hear the rustling get louder and I follow the source just in time to see multiple shadows rolling towards us. "Pika pi!" I exclaim, pointing.

"What are those, rocks?" Sanji asks.

"No, they're bugs!" Nami says. She's right! Ladybugs! And they're huge! Nami clings to Sanji as he and I knock any away that come too close to us, and we run as soon as they're all gone.

After that, it's a barrage of insects one after the other, from giant slugs, to fireflies, to roaches, and even pigs. This is ridiculous, I'd rather take on a horde of angry Beedrill (dammit, not another mystery word)!

After a long while of being chased, and enduring the mocking calls of the South Birds, we all meet up again. No one's had any luck thanks to all the bugs! "We've been at this for hours, I don't think I can run anymore!" Nami whines, falling to her knees.

"Pika…" I agree with a sigh.

Just then, we hear another South Bird, the sound coming from right above us. We all look up to see one, laughing at us and hopping around on the tree branch gleefully. "He just said, you morons think you can catch us? Ha, good one!" Chopper translates.

Why that little-!

"Whoa, easy Pika-chan!" Sanji says, holding me back as I stand on all fours, sparks flying from my cheeks. However, arms suddenly appear and wrap around the South Bird, making it fall to the ground helplessly.

We all turn to Robin who's smiling, "I can grab it if I can see it." She says. Alright, go Robin!

With the South Bird in hand, we head back to Cricket's house and arrive to see Masira and Shoujo just hopping off the Merry, tools in hand. Cricket looks up at us from his spot at the tree stump. "Well, would you look that, you managed to catch one." He says with a grin. "They're hard to catch."

"Yeah, no kidding…" Usopp mutters.

"So, is that everything we need?" Nami asks.

"Yep," Cricket nods. "Once we finish refitting your ship, you'll be able to sail for the Knock Up stream when it comes."

"Yahoo!" Luffy cheers. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper all start dancing around, "We're going to the sky! We're going to the sky! We're going to the sky!"

"Great, so now we just have to wait three more days." Sanji says, making Luffy stop suddenly.

"Huh? We have to wait?"

"Did you forget already?" Usopp asks. "The next Knock Up stream isn't coming for a few more days."

"Awwww! I wanna go right now!" Luffy whines.

"Too bad, we have no choice." Nami says.

Luffy sits on the ground, drawing a circle in the dirt with a pout, "I don't wanna wait around though…"

"Would it kill you to sit still and relax for once?" Zoro asks.

"There's an island called Aska Island about a few hours East from here." Cricket suddenly says. "I know you pirates hate staying in one place for too long, so you might as well stretch your legs if you want."

"Really?" Luffy asks, springing right out of his depression.

"Did you say Aska Island?" Nami exclaims. Oh no...she has that look…

"Do you know it, Nami?" Chopper asks innocently.

"You bet I do!" Nami says, her eyes shining with money. "It's an island that's rumored to have an amazing treasure!" Of course it does…

"I don't mind if you take a little trip," Cricket says. "Just be sure to come back before your three days are up so we can finish refitting your ship."

"Yes! Adventure! Adventure!" Luffy chants.

Well, guess that settles it. In the morning, we're off to Aska Island. Wonder what kind of flaming hoops we'll have to jump through to get _this_ treasure?

* * *

 **DON'T WORRY! BELLAMY WILL STILL ATTACK THE PLACE! Just not right now, because we have to take a trip to... MOVIE 5!**

 **Honestly, this movie aired at the most AWKWARD time! It came out during the Skypiea arc so obviously the movie couldn't happen up there. I couldn't put it AFTER Skypiea because it goes straight into the Navarone arc and Movie 6 is coming after that, followed by Davy Back, then Movie 7, then Water 7 and you all KNOW how long and important that arc is! Honestly, this was the ONLY place where it could fit!**

 **Once Movie 5 is done, we'll be able to transition smoothly back into canon territory. The Merry will get her chicken outfit, Bellamy will get what's coming to him, and we'll ride the Knock Up stream to glory. There; crisis averted.**


	60. Curse of the Sacred Sword

**Alright, time for MOVIE 5! Whew! Barely made the deadline cause I just saw X-Men: Apocalypse and am trying not to give in to my comic book/superhero fangirl and become X-Men trash again XD**

 **I'll admit, I really enjoyed Movie 5, at least, compared to the past three movies. I liked that it focused on Zoro for once, giving us a bit more background on him and I LOVED that he got the honor of the landing the finishing blow! I want that more often, at least in the movies! This movie was fun to put Pika-chan in as we got quite a bit of nakamaship here, which I appreciated! All in all, I think this one is one of my favorites of the OP movies. I do like the later ones more, but this one is most likely in my Top 5.**

 **Now, let's get on with the show; I hope you enjoy OP Movie 5: Curse of the Sacred Sword!**

 **And in the meantime, I think it's high time the Zoro &Pika-chan nakamaship got some headway, don't you think? ;)**

* * *

We reached Aska Island by the late afternoon. As usual, Luffy was hungry so we had to find a food supply before he snuck into ours. Zoro volunteered to stay on the ship to guard it as usual, and Usopp did as well, to maybe see if he could help a bit with the refitting that Masira and Shoujo started.

I decided to stay on the ship as well; I'm really not in the mood for Luffy-antics so I may as well catch a good nap. It isn't long before I'm lying on Zoro's leg, both of us snoozing peacefully.

However, a while later, my ears twitch as I hear a whoosh followed by the sound of metal hitting wood. I open my eyes and look around sleepily to see a small dagger dangerously close to Zoro's head. Did someone throw that?

Zoro frowns, not at all fazed and glances at the dagger. I fully wake up when Zoro suddenly starts, his eyes wide. I tumble off him from the sudden movement as Zoro looks out at the more forest heavy part of the island.

"Pika?" _'Zoro?'_ I ask.

Without a word or even sparing me a glance, Zoro takes the dagger, and leaps off the ship onto land. I leap onto the railing as he starts walking into the forest; what's going on? I look back at the ship; I should probably warn Usopp. I glance back at Zoro seeing that he's quickly vanishing out of sight! I'm gonna lose him!

Without a word, I leap off the ship and trot after Zoro. We walk up the path, leading deeper into the jungle, but Zoro doesn't say a word. He doesn't even spare me a glance when I appear beside him; well, he's not telling me to go back so I guess it's okay for me to come.

"Pika?" I ask, trying to keep up with his brisk pace. Zoro doesn't answer and suddenly stops. I barely avoid bumping into him and follow his gaze. A little ways up the path, three figures are waiting.

There's a tall man with strange iron armor, a fat guy with a long spiked club, and a boy that looks about in his teens, wearing a ratty Marine hat and carrying a strange looking sword. I take a wary step back, but Zoro doesn't seem intimidated at all.

"Roronoa Zoro, I presume." The guy with the iron armor says.

"We've been expecting you." The fat guy says with a laugh.

"Thanks for coming." The boy says. "Now, if you would please follow us."

I tilt my head; that boy has a genuine smile on his face. While I'm too sure about the other two, this kid doesn't seem bad. I'm not getting any bad vibes from him, but nothing good either; something's...off about them. I look up at Zoro as he tightens his grip on the dagger and starts moving towards them, prompting me to follow.

"Try not to look so weirded out." I flinch as I barely realize that Zoro is talking to me. "If you show your emotions too easily, these guys won't let you come within three feet."

I look up at Zoro, who's face is still stoic and unreadable. Ah, I see. I nod and put take a deep breath. I focus my gaze on the three people ahead and push away all my feelings of caution and hesitation. These guys are here for Zoro, not me; if I want to get out of this unscathed, I have to show that I'm not onto them, pretend I'm on their side.

The men wait until we reach them and the boy looks down at me. "What's this?" He asks.

"It's with me." Zoro says, walking past the men, me following. "It won't cause any trouble."

I send a small glance to the boy, unwavering determination glinting in my eyes. No one questions my presence after that and the three men walk alongside us, leading us deeper into the forest.

We walk for a good while in silence until we reach a wall with a giant pair of iron doors. I have to bite my tongue to keep from reacting as I see the words Marines across the top of the door. Well, if these guys really are Marines, I'm sure Zoro and I can handle them. If we can handle a hundred bounty hunters on Whiskey Peak then this shouldn't be too hard. The guards at the door don't even bat an eye as they let us in. I subtly glance around as we walk through a giant courtyard, probably a training ground or something. We reach a tall building that looks like a dojo and we enter the dark building.

"We brought him as you ordered, Master!" The boy calls. My ears twitch ever so slightly as the dojo is filled with row upon row of Marine soldiers, a path splitting the hoard. Zoro and I look ahead to see a lone figure standing near the back wall of the dojo. Through the dim light, I can make out a red robe, light purple hair, and a long sword on his back.

The figure turns ever so slightly and the soldiers all abruptly turn and face each other. Zoro barely unsheathes one of his swords and I crouch ever so slightly, but the soldiers don't even spare us a glance. They pull out their swords and hold them straight, in a very non-threatening manner.

I frown ever so slightly in confusion as Zoro and I walk down the path between the two large groups. I glance at the soldiers a bit, but I'm not getting anything from them. It's the same feeling as those three, there's something off about them.

We approach the man and he and Zoro stare at one another until Zoro speaks. "Saga." I almost drop my façade; Zoro knows him? "I give you this life." Zoro hands the man the dagger, who takes it, then allowing the boy to take it. I'm guessing that was a symbol to show that we don't mean any harm.

The boy looks at the dagger, "So this is the dagger that you loved as a child." he says. "And also marks your friendship with our Master!" So Zoro does know him. I'm not that surprised that he never mentioned him; Zoro isn't one to reveal his past unless he really wants to. Saga smirks slightly and I allow myself to slightly relax; no need to be on edge.

"I gotta say, I wasn't expecting this." Zoro says with a smirk. "The Marines don't really click with us."

I give a small nod in agreement, allowing a small smile on my face. Until I'm given some sign that these guys trust me, I'm not letting my guard down. Zoro may know these people, but I don't.

"I was surprised to hear that the great Pirate Hunter Zoro had become a pirate himself." Saga says. He looks down at me. "You even found yourself a companion."

Zoro doesn't say anything but his eyes slightly narrow, "You've been wielding your sword for justice ever since we were kids." He says. "Knowing you, you must really want to tear into me." I frown ever so slightly as sand colored scales flash in my vision for a split second.

"Not at all." Saga says. "I simply want you to give up on your new pirate life."

Zoro scoffs, "You make it sound so easy." he says. "This isn't something I can just-"

He's cut off as Saga suddenly staggers with a soft choking noise. My eyes widen as he falls to his knees, shivering in pain causing the boy to run over to his side. "Saga!" Zoro exclaims. He moves towards him and I follow. Saga is coated with sweat and he's clutching his chest; that doesn't look good. He looks like he's in a lot of pain; where's Chopper when you need him?

"Zoro." Saga says through grit teeth. "I need to ask you a favor...as a friend." He reaches up and grips Zoro's shoulder. "Will you...lend me your strength?" My ears twitch in confusion; lend his strength for what?

Zoro is silent for a moment, "I'll hear you out." I nod in agreement and Zoro fully kneels next to Saga.

He tells us that he's in pain because a nearby village is holding specific rituals that are causing him pain on purpose. At first the pain wasn't as bad, but lately it's gotten worse. He tells us that he wants us to go with a small army of Marines into the village and find a priestess with blue hair named Maya, who has three jeweled orbs. These orbs are the source of his pain, so if he gets them and gets rid of them, he'll be okay.

"Zoro...will you help me?" Saga asks, once he's finished.

Zoro's eyes narrow and he places his hand over Saga's, which is still on his shoulder, "I will."

Saga smiles, "Thank you." He then looks at me, "Will your companion be coming along?"

Zoro raises an eyebrow, "Is that a problem?"

Saga slowly gets to his feet, most likely having gotten over his pain, "Not at all, but you wouldn't mind if I test its power, would you?"

Zoro gets up as well, "Test its power?"

"Just to see if it's worth traveling alongside you," Saga says, honing in on Zoro, "You don't just let anyone travel around with you." He's actually got a pretty good point. Zoro holds all of our crewmates with respect; he wouldn't be with us if he thought we were worthless or not worth his time. Especially if he wants to be the world's greatest swordsman.

"Toma." Saga says.

"Yes sir." The boy steps up and Zoro backs away from me. My eyes narrow as Toma begins to sprint towards me. My ears twitch as his hand lands on the hilt of his sword and I make my tail iron just as he reaches me.

 _Clang!_

My tail meets his sword as it's unsheathed in the blink of an eye. Toma's eyes seem to gleam red as he follows up with two more swift attacks that I easily block. Toma smiles, "I never expected a tiny creature like you to block my unsheathing technique; most people dodge it." he says.

Toma seems to lighten in posture while still keeping his stance, his sword still locked with my tail. He moves our weapons up slightly and Saga steps up. "Hm, you can change your tail to iron at will, and you move it swiftly with a decent amount of strength behind it." He observes before looking at me. "You could easily be called a swordsman in your own right." He nods to Toma and he breaks the lock with me, sheathing his sword, and I revert my tail back to normal.

Saga turns to Zoro, "You've found a remarkable companion; I can see why it's traveling by your side." Zoro says nothing.

"Master, shall we begin our mission?" The iron armor guy asks.

"Yes, your men should all be ready by the gate in under an hour." Saga says. "Toma, you are to stay here with me and oversee the training of the rest."

"Yes Master." Toma says with a bow.

Zoro and I head back out to the courtyard and Zoro stops suddenly, "You do know what you're getting yourself into, right?" Zoro asks.

"Pika?" I ask, looking at him.

"Saga wants something from a village nearby, something that the people there will probably put up a fight to protect." He says before looking at me. "Are you willing to attack innocent people to see this through?"

My eyes widen as I realize his meaning. The only people I've really ever openly attacked are obvious enemies or Marines. These villagers are normal people! None of them will have Devil Fruit powers and they'll all have minimum fighting experience. It'll be easy, sure, but if I don't watch it, I could really hurt someone!

I think Zoro sees my conflict and he looks away, "That's what I thought." He says. "Do you still want to do this?"

I frown and look at the ground; can I do this? Will I be able to do this? I do want to help Zoro's friend, because-

I wince as sandy scales appear in my vision again. Why are these memories coming back now? I shake my head and focus my thoughts; this Saga is Zoro's friend, and I trust Zoro. Zoro's my friend so I want to help him.

I look up at Zoro and nod, "Pika." I say firmly.

Zoro looks at me before focusing his attention at the gathering Marines at the gate, "Listen up; until we get these orbs, I want you to do exactly as I say." He says, seriousness coating his voice. "No questions, just do it; understand?"

I frown slightly, but nod anyway. I push down the uneasy feeling I have as we join the rest of the Marines at the gate before heading out to the village. What have I gotten myself into?

* * *

It took a good while to get to the village. As we approached the village sent out an alarm and the men got weapons ready to fight. "Rodent." I look up at Zoro. "Don't look at anyone during this fight, got it?"

I frown and tilt my head; don't look at anyone? As we get closer, my ears twitch as I hear the faintest sound of familiar voices. Wait, is that...Sanji? I strain my vision and see four familiar figures. It's Sanji, Nami, Chopper and Robin! What are they doing here?!

"No matter what happens, don't look at the cook or our crewmates. Don't look anyone in the eye." Zoro says, looking directly at me. "Understand?"

I look up at him and can tell that he's not joking. I swallow and nod; there's no turning back now. We finally reach the edge of the village where the fighting is already going strong. Multiple men are on the ground, injured, and Fat Man has just destroyed what looks like an altar for rituals. I can't help but feel a little guilty when an old woman and a girl with blue hair look on in horror.

Wait...a girl. And judging by her outfit, that must be Maya!

Fat Man calls for us, and I take a deep breath. "Remember, don't look anyone in the eye." Zoro says.

I nod and we walk into the fray. I focus straight ahead as soldiers begin to come at us. Zoro easily takes them out with the flat of his blades while I simply dodge and knock their weapons away. I keep my electricity ready in case I need to paralyze someone, but I really hope it doesn't come to that. A few moments, later, a large group of villagers run towards us.

Zoro and I glance at each other, and I leap onto his back, planting myself between his shoulder blades as he crouches down, readying his three swords. I release my electricity, allowing thin bolts to coat all three blades like lightning rods and Zoro sends out a giant rush of air with a huge swing, flinging my electricity at the villagers, sending them to the ground in paralysis. I leap off Zoro and we run towards Maya and the old woman.

"Z-Zoro! Pika-chan!" Chopper exclaims. I move behind Zoro and am careful to not make eye contact with any of them.

"What the hell are you two doing?!" Nami demands. "Why are you with the Marines?!"

Zoro and I don't even acknowledge them. "Are those the orbs?" He asks, eyeing the bag in Maya's arms. That's got to be them. Maya and the old woman start to run and we make after them.

Three more villagers appear in our way, but Zoro knocks them down, allowing me to run ahead. I pick up speed and manage to get in front of Maya and the old lady, making them skid to a halt.

The old lady gets in front of Maya, "Grandmother!" Maya exclaims. I focus my gaze solely on the orbs in an offensive position. It's really getting hard for me to not look directly at them.

I begin to stalk towards them, "Pikachu!" I say, pointing to the bag. Maya looks down at it and continues to back away.

"Pika pika!" I say sharply, hardening my gaze on the bag. _'Please, don't make me do this the hard way…'_

Maya still doesn't comply and I grit my teeth. I glance back at Zoro who nods, and I begin charging up my electricity. Sparks begin to fly from my cheeks when-

"Pika-chan! Stop!" My eyes widen at the voice and my sparks fade ever so slightly. I hear someone running towards me until they skid to a halt. I glance back ever so slightly to see Zoro holding his blade between me and Sanji.

"Zoro, what the hell?!" Sanji exclaims. "Have you lost your mind?!"

"No." Zoro answers simply. "We found our target." Zoro gives me a head gesture and I draw my attention back to Maya and her grandma, as kicks and swords clanging fill the air.

My eyes widen as Maya and her grandma had been trying to get away while I was distracted; not gonna happen. I leap in front of Maya, stopping her in her tracks. _'I'm so sorry about this...'_ I try to apologize with my eyes and sparks fly from my cheeks once again. Tiny streams of lightning emerge and hit the ground in around Maya.

"Pika-chan!" I hear Sanji yell in both shock and anger. I grit my teeth and the lightning dances around her dangerously, forcing her into a corner.

"Pika-chan, what the hell are you doing?!" Sanji yells.

I hear footsteps run towards me until I hear Zoro appear between me and him. "Have you forgotten who your real opponent is?" Zoro asks.

"Bastard…" Sanji growls. "Do you have any idea of what you're doing?!"

"Sanji." Zoro says simply. "Let me give you some advice; when fighting a swordsman, never lose focus, even for a second."

I grind my teeth together, _'Don't look...don't look…'_

"As soon as you leave an opening...your fate is sealed!"

I visibly flinch as I hear the familiar sound of metal slicing air and Sanji's cry of pain followed by a loud thump on the ground.

"Sanji!" Chopper and Nami scream as I hear them move towards him.

I smell the slightest hint of blood in the air and I almost stop my thin wall of electricity; every part of me is screaming for me to go to Sanji, to see if he's okay. My partner's hurt and I'm just standing here!

 _'No matter what happens, don't look at the cook or our crewmates. Don't look anyone in the eye.'_

I swallow my frustration and conflict and focus once more; I trust Zoro. I can't look. Zoro doesn't do anything without a reason, and I have to have faith. I have to trust my friend.

Zoro approaches us and I cease my lightning when he raises his sword. There's a swipe, and Maya's bag falls open, letting three pink orbs topple out and roll towards us. Zoro picks them up and places them in his harumaki. "Sorry, but we're taking these." Zoro turns away and I obediently follow.

"No please, give those back!" Maya exclaims. "Those are very important to us."

I grimace as I hear the genuine desperation in her voice. _'Don't look…'_

"They're important to me too." Zoro says simply without looking back.

"This island is under the Marine Dojo's jurisdiction!" Fat Man says loudly. "Holding unauthorized rituals and assemblies is strictly prohibited! Since you have all been made aware of this, your actions will be regarded as treason against the Marines!"

I do my absolute best to keep my vision strictly away from Maya and my crewmates; I'm starting to regret this decision more and more.

"Should you persist in your actions, we will have no choice but to execute you!" Fat Man finishes.

"We're done here; let's go." Iron Armor says and we all start to pull out of the village.

"Why are you doing this Zoro?!" Chopper yells as we walk. "What's wrong with you?!" Zoro says nothing and we continue to walk up the path.

"Pika-chan! Come back!" Chopper yells, making me squeeze my eyes shut. "Pika-chan, what's wrong? Come back, please!" Dammit, don't make this any harder than it already is, Chopper!

"Pika-chan..."

I freeze in my tracks and open my eyes; Sanji. Even from here I can feel him staring at me. It almost makes me turn and run back to him to make sure he's alright...but I can't. I force myself to look ahead and run after Zoro. I can't imagine the look on his face, but it's probably devastated.

 _'I'm so sorry Sanji...'_

I slow to a trot next to Zoro as we head back to the dojo. "He'll be fine." I look up at Zoro's soft comment. "I didn't attack to kill, and Chopper's there; he'll be fine." I stare up at him and he gives me a glance. "You did good rodent."

My eyes widen as I finally understand why he didn't want me to look at anyone in the village. He was trying to protect me; he wanted to keep me from seeing the damage we were causing. He knew Sanji would fight him if we went after Maya and how I would react if Sanji got hurt.

If I had looked at him or any of my crewmates, I would've stopped fighting; I would've given myself away. The Marine Dojo trusts me and Zoro kept me from jeopardizing that trust. I allow a small smile to grace my face as I feel a bit of guilt melt away; I was right to trust Zoro.

I still don't know what this thing with these orbs is all about, but as long as I'm with Zoro, it'll be okay. I'm sure of it.

* * *

That evening, the Straw Hat pirates helped the wounded villagers recover from the fierce attack. Thankfully, no one was severally injured so Chopper was easily able to make medicine for everyone. The village children even helped gather the herbs he needed.

"So Chopper really is a doctor?" Maya asked as she finished wrapping up another patient.

"Yep, he's the best there is!" Nami said. "Sanji can vouch for his medical skills, especially." Chopper began his happy dance, but Nami's smile faded as her eyes fell on Sanji, who was silently stirring a pot of stew, his arm in a sling.

Nami slowly walked towards him, "Are you sure you should be cooking with that arm?" She asked gently.

Sanji shook his head, "It's fine; I have to do my job after all." He said. "Plus, it helps take my mind off things."

Nami slightly winced as she she barely heard the tightness in his voice. She could only imagine how upset he must be. Not only did Zoro attack and injure one of his own crewmates, but Pika-chan, of all things, helped him take something that was precious to this village.

"I still can't believe it!" Nami exclaimed. "I mean, Zoro is one thing, but Pika-chan? What the hell is going on?!"

Sanji barely managed to keep his expression neutral; he almost refused to believe that what he saw was real! Pika-chan attacking an innocent person, and a girl no less! At least with that woman on Clockwork Island, Pika-chan had been trying to defend him and Nami. This...this was completely uncalled for!

Pika-chan never attacked or even threatened another unless provoked, and Pika-chan had never met Maya until today! The same could be said for Zoro, but who knew what that moss-head was thinking (if he even thought at all)?

Sanji shook his head and ladled the stew into bowls; he trusted Pika-chan. Pika-chan wouldn't do this unless it had a reason, and the fact that Pika-chan wouldn't even look at him still rang through his head.

Normally when he or anyone on the crew was hurt, Pika-chan was the first one on the scene. This time, despite lying on the ground with an injured arm, Pika-chan didn't even turn to look at him. He did however, see it flinch. He had a feeling that Marine Dojo place had something to do with it, and with Zoro too.

Sanji just hoped they would figure it out soon before Pika-chan or Zoro got involved in something they couldn't get out of.

* * *

We got back to the dojo by the time night fell. We presented the orbs to Saga and he led us to a strange fountain like place. It was made of stone, held barely two feet of water, and a ruined well stood in the middle of it. Saga instructed Zoro to drop the orbs down the well, and Zoro did. My ears wilt ever so slightly as I watch the orbs disappear down the well; I really hope we made the right decision.

"You've been a big help, Zoro." Saga says. "Thank you."

"You could've easily taken those without my help." Zoro points out.

Saga shakes his head, "No, this was something only you could do." He says. I frown and tilt my head; why was that? All of a sudden, Saga staggers and falls to his knees, clutching his chest again.

"Master!" Toma exclaims.

"Saga!" Zoro makes his way back to Saga. "The orbs are still hurting you?" My ears perk up; even from here, they're still hurting him?

"Don't worry." Saga says waving his hand. "I'm not in pain; I'm simply shaking with joy." I manage to keep my face neutral, remembering Zoro's words about showing my emotion, but I can't help but feel uneasy.

"You'll understand soon enough." Saga says, a crooked smile coming to his face. He then gets up and shakily begins to head back towards the dojo.

Fat Man lets out a chuckle, "You should be honored Zoro; now you're one of us."

"I was finally able to witness the legendary Three-Sword Style." Iron Armor says. "It would be an honor to spar with you."

"Yeah, I'd like to try fighting you too!" Toma speaks up. He then looks at me. "I'd also like to fight you again too." I look at him. "I heard that you used lightning during the fight at the village; you really have a lot of power, don't you?"

I give a slight smile and a shrug, "Pikachu."

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Toma says suddenly. "Straw Hat Luffy came to the dojo earlier today." My ears twitch. "Master Saga defeated him easily; but I guess he doesn't concern you anymore, right?"

I manage to keep my face neutral as Toma and the others start to walk away. All this stuff is making my head spin! I trust Zoro, but these guys...I don't trust them at all! I have no idea who to follow or who to go to!

"You don't have to follow me, you know." My ears perk up at Zoro's voice. He looks down at me, "I told you to do what I said until we got those orbs; we got them, so you don't have to stick around."

"Pika?"

"After doing all that, you probably hate my guts, right?" Zoro asks. "Do what you want; stay or go, I don't care." He walks away before I can give a proper response. Man, sometimes that guy is harder to read than Robin!

I watch Zoro go and frown slightly; what can I do now? I really don't want to leave Zoro with these guys; now that those orbs are gone, that strange feeling around Saga and his followers is just getting stronger. As strong as Zoro is, I'm afraid he might be in over his head with this.

I look at the moon and decide to take a walk; with everything that's happened, our trip to Sky Island seems so far away now.

I wander through the forest, admiring the clear sky and the fireflies; this place sure is pretty. I eventually make it to a lake where the moonlight is shining brightly bringing a smile to my face; it feels like it's been forever since I've been able to smile like this.

I suddenly hear rustling and turn to see a figure emerge on the other side of the lake. I crouch and move closer, watching the figure move until it comes into the moonlight. It's Maya! I watch as she approaches a stone altar that looks a lot like the one Fat Man destroyed in the village. She walks to the front of the altar and stares at the water for a while until she leans against the altar.

My eyes widen as sobs fill the air as Maya trembles. "What am I going to do now?" She asks no one. She pulls out a strange string of beads and falls to her knees, still leaning against the altar, "Forgive me...I failed you…" She says softly. "I'm so sorry, Saga...I can't save you…"

My eyes widen; she knows Saga?! I thought Saga hated her! At least, that's what it sounded like when he told us about her. And...she wants to save him? Save him from what?

My gaze hardens as the orbs pop into my head; she said those things were important to her. So important that Saga wanted them gone...but why? Why would things that are causing him pain be important to Maya? Those are genuine tears and I'm feeling legit sorrow and despair coming from her; she really wants to save Saga, so I know she's not lying.

I have a pretty good feeling that those orbs are important, not just as some kind of religious artifact. I bet those orbs and Saga are connected somehow...but I'm not sure how. Maybe if I ask it will clear everything up, but there's no way I can go out to her now. She'd totally freak out; our first meeting wasn't exactly heartwarming.

I nod and vanish back into the forest, running back towards the dojo. I need something to prove that I'm on her side, to gain her trust. I run back to the tiny fountain and make sure no one's around. The well is still there.

I glance around until I spy a giant leaf growing out of the ground and a small vine from one of the trees. I take them and move towards the well, holding the leaf between my teeth and the vine around my neck. Thankfully, the inside of the well is coated in moss and vines, thanks to time and I latch on.

I carefully climb down, barely managing to not slip on the moss around the vines and I eventually reach the bottom. It's so deep, I can barely see the top by the time I get to the bottom. And thanks to the night sky, it's pretty dark down here. Thankfully, the orbs are right nearby.

I scoop them up and place them in my leaf before expertly folding and wrapping the leaf around the orbs, creating a makeshift bag. Thank you, Nami! I then take the vine from earlier and make myself a strap, securing the bag to my back. I nod in confirmation and begin my long climb out of the well.

Climbing out was ten times harder than climbing down. The moss was ten times more slippery and I had to be careful not to jostle the bag too much; leaves are fragile, no matter how big they are.

After what feels like hours, I make it safely out of the well, and thankfully, I'm still alone. I enter the forest and decide to steer clear of the dojo for now. It's late and I don't want to wander around at night in case I run into trouble.

I scale a tall tree that's a good ways away from the dojo and nestle onto a branch, the orbs still secured to my body. Hopefully if I stay up here, Saga won't notice that the orbs aren't that far away anymore. I'll check on Zoro in the morning.

* * *

The next day, I wake up and make my way to the dojo. I debated leaving the orbs hidden somewhere in case they alerted Saga, but I really didn't want to leave them out in the open for someone to find. Until they're safely back with Maya, I have to make sure nothing happens to them.

I stealthily make my way around the dojo before scaling the wall near the back. I peek into the courtyard to find it empty as usual. Everyone's probably still in the dojo doing that monotonous training sequence again. I'm sure Marine training is dull, but I doubt it's _that_ dull.

As I move towards the dojo, I hear and feel a lot less movement inside. What's going on? I scale the wall of the main dojo thanks to the ivy scaling the place. I peek in through the window and notice that everyone inside seems a bit more stern than usual. The Marines are all standing in formation, their attention solely on Saga and his top three men. Zoro is standing to the side, looking uninterested as usual.

Saga steps forward and addresses his men, "Soon, the time will come!" He says. "The time to grant all of you power beyond your wildest dreams!" He raises his arms, "Soon, the difference between the good and evil will not be distinguished by law, order, or ever gods; but by power!" My eyes widen. "Those with the most power will become the rulers of this world! And that is the true meaning of justice!" Uh, that doesn't sound like justice at all.

"Now my swordsmen…" Saga reaches for his sword and my ears twitch as I swear I see a red glare coming from his face even though I can't see it directly. Saga slowly pulls out his sword, a long blade with eerie green markings adorning the blade that makes me shudder and he points it at his men. "With me, bearing the Seven Star Sword in the name of justice, we will cut a path towards a new world!" Saga yells.

My eyes widen even further as the Marines' eyes all widen and glow red. There is _no way_ that's natural! The Marines all raise their swords and start to chant loudly, their blank red eyes staring at nothing.

"This will finally make my dream a reality, Zoro." Saga says, glancing at him. "My dream will finally be realized...on the night of the Red Moon!" Saga then raises his sword, causing a green glow to emit from it.

My ears twitch as I look down at my bag to see a pale glow emitting from it. The orbs! I quickly drop from the window and peek into my bag to see all three orbs glowing and starting to move slightly. I glance back up at the dojo one more time before taking off into the forest, back towards the village. I have to get these back to Maya! If those red eyes and green sword didn't scream evil, I don't know what does! I just hope no one saw me!

I run through the trees as fast as I can, but by the time the village comes into view, the sky has begun to turn orange. Damn this village for being so freaking far away! I stop a few meters from the entrance to catch my breath and am relieved to see that all my crewmates are there, including Luffy and Usopp (where have those two been?).

"Pika pi!" I call running towards them.

Sanji whirls around being the first to hear my voice. "Pika-chan?"

I stop as I arrive and try not to wince as a burly man steps protectively in front of Maya and her grandmother. Fair move.

"Pika-chan…" Chopper says softly but Luffy grins down at me.

"Heya Pika-chan! Where've you been?"

I give a small smile, "Pikachu."

I then slowly walk towards Maya causing her guard to freak out a bit. "St-Stay back!"

"Wait." Maya says, probably sensing that I'm not here to hurt them.

I take a deep breath and take the bag off my shoulder; time to face the music. I place the bag on the ground and nudge it towards Maya. The leaf falls opens with the movement, revealing the three orbs. "Pika pi." I say somberly, bowing my head in apology.

Maya's eyes widen and Grandma freaking stretches her whole body into the air, causing me and everyone else to jump. "These...These are the jewel orbs that were stolen!" she exclaims, staring at me incredulously. "You brought them back!" I smile and silently nod.

Maya's smile grows big and bright as she picks up the orbs, "Now we can perform the ritual!" she exclaims. "I can still save Saga!" She looks at me causing me to look away in shame and guilt; I had attacked her after all. Even if I didn't hurt her, I still shouldn't have done that.

Maya places a hand on my head, and pets me gently but gratefully, causing me to look up at her. "Thank you, little one. All is forgiven." She then leans down and plants a kiss on the top of my head making me blush and rub the back of my head.

"Pika pika…" I say shyly. But it only takes me a second to remember that there are friends that I kinda betrayed behind me.

I slowly turn around and walk towards them, Sanji in particular, my head low and my ears drooping in shame. "Pika pi…" _'I'm sorry you guys…'_

I feel Sanji step towards me and he kneels in front of me. I flinch in surprise as his appears on my head and I look up to see a smile on his face. "Good to know that I don't have to lecture you."

 _'Huh?'_

"I knew you'd eventually come to your senses; you are my partner, after all."

My eyes widen; he trusted me all this time? A smile slowly grows on my face; Sanji, you are the strangest human I've ever met! "Pika!" I squeal, leaping onto his shoulder. Sanji laughs as I nuzzle his cheek and he gives me a pat.

All seems right with the world again, and I couldn't be happier.

* * *

After that, everyone catches me up to speed on the plan. According to the legend of the sword, the three orbs are used to weaken the sword's power and create a shield around the village to keep it from causing destruction.

The sword, controlling Saga, basically wants to rain blood upon the island like it did many years ago, and use Zoro as a sacrifice to get the ball rolling, which is why he wanted him to join him in the first place. So, the plan is to get one orb to a specific tower so Maya can perform the ritual and make the shield.

Luckily, Luffy and Usopp had spent the last day and a half running through some underground tunnels which lead to each tower. We're all to split up and bring an orb to one tower, except for me.

"Pika-chan, I need you to keep an eye on Zoro." Luffy says, kneeling in front of me.

"Pika?" I ask, pointing to myself.

Luffy shrugs, "I know Zoro is strong and all, but it wouldn't hurt if he had some back-up. Plus, you know where he is, so you can keep an eye on him the best, kay?"

"Chu!" I say with a nod and we all start heading out.

"Pika-chan." I turn as Sanji comes over to me. "You might need this." He reaches into his pocket and he pulls out my Muscle Band. "If something goes wrong, don't hold back." He says, kneeling and tying it around my tail.

I smile and give him a firm nod, "Pika pika!" _'You can count on me!'_ And I'm off, my Muscle Band flapping in the wind.

I run back to the dojo, arriving just as night falls to find the place nearly empty. I'm not sure if that's a good sign or a bad sign. I find Zoro sitting against the wall inside the dojo, not sleeping, to my surprise.

I go over to him and he looks at me, "You're back." He states. "I expected you to go running back to the cook by now."

"Pika pikachu." _'Someone has to keep an eye on you.'_ I sit down next to him and glance towards the back of the dojo. The Seven Star Sword is lying there unguarded; I'm surprised Saga left it behind.

"He used his right arm." Zoro says, his gaze locked on the sword.

"Pika?"

"After what happened, I thought he'd never use his right arm again." After what happened?

Suddenly, without any prompting, Zoro begins to talk about Saga. He talks about how they were friends at his old dojo who used to spar together all the time (Zoro always won, of course). Before they left, Zoro gave Saga that dagger from earlier and they made a promise. Zoro promised to become the world's greatest swordsman (of course), and Saga promised to wield his sword in the name of justice.

Then, many years later, back when Zoro was a bounty hunter, the two met up again. They traveled around together for a while, cutting down any pirates they came across; but one day, they got into a bad situation while raiding two pirate ships at once. The ships were falling apart and Saga was being pulled down thanks to an anchor wrapped around his right arm. At the time, Zoro didn't have the ability to cut metal, and the flames were getting dangerously close to the ship's supply of explosives.

Saga told Zoro to get an axe from the other ship, but the ship blew up the moment Zoro left.

All this time, Zoro thought his friend was dead, only to see him alive and well and possessed by a cursed sword. My jaw clenches as a clear image of Sandy finally appears fully in my mind, making me touch my Muscle Band.

I reach out and lightly touch Zoro's leg with my other paw; I know Zoro's not big on touchy-feely stuff, but this should be fine.

We sit in silence for a few more moments until Zoro gives me a rough pat and stands up. "It sure is quiet in here." He says. I smirk slightly and get up as well; this man is the master of changing the subject.

He walks towards the sword, me following, and he slowly picks it up. Instantly, the sword begins to glow green and Zoro cries out in pain. I take a cautionary step towards him as green energy surrounds his hand making Zoro drop the sword. "What the hell was that?!" He exclaims.

"Pikachu…" I say uneasily, staring at the sword. I can definitely see that the thing is cursed now.

"You shouldn't underestimate our Master." Zoro and I freeze and turn to see Toma sitting on the stairway of the dojo, a white bird on his shoulder. "The power of the Seven Star Sword is very strong." I think that goes without saying, kid.

"Tonight, the sword will awaken from its hundred year long slumber," Toma continues. "And it's first prey will be the blood of someone strong; a sacrifice."

"And that's me, huh?" Zoro says as we walk towards him.

Toma nods, "And then your duty will be fulfilled." Toma closes his eyes. "At first I thought Straw Hat Luffy would be sufficient." He says as Zoro walks past him, leaving me on the stairs. "But it turns out I overestimated him."

Zoro grins slightly, "Luffy's not someone you can over or underestimate." He says. "As a swordsman, you should be able to assess your opponent with one look."

We sit in silence for a moment until Toma breaks it. "Zoro...what kind of person is Master, really?" He asks.

"He's exactly the kind of swordsman you'd expect him to be." Zoro answers.

Toma lets a small smile grace his face, "I'm not like the others, you know. I still have some of my own will left." He rests his forehead on his knee. "But eventually, even I'll completely lose it." He laughs softly. "It's weird; even though it's what I wanted, it still scares me to death."

I frown; that's not weird at all. Losing your will is something that no one wants.

Toma stands up and the bird flies away, "But before that happens...will you hear my request, Zoro?" He asks.

"Sure." Zoro says, still not turning around.

I take a step back as Toma puts a hand on his sword and lunges at Zoro, his eyes turning red once again. Zoro easily dodges and blocks the sword. "If I die in a fight against you, I won't have any regrets!" Toma says as he continues to barrage Zoro with attacks. "I may have become stronger under Master Saga, but this isn't the justice I dreamed of fighting for! At this rate I'll die as nothing more than a murderer!"

I walk down the stairs, watching the fight, Toma's words keeping me from interfering. That poor kid…

"You shouldn't be running your mouth during a fight!" Zoro says, pushing Toma back. "Concentrate on your opponent, nothing else!"

I watch as the fight goes on, Toma evenly matching Zoro's strikes. This kid really is talented, even without the gleam in his eyes. I can tell that Zoro can see it too; this kid has real drive and ambition. He's willing to do anything to accomplish his dream, just like us. The fight goes on for a while longer until they push each other back.

But before they can rush back in, a familiar green sword appears between them. Saga is here; how did I not notice him?!

"It sounds like you were really having fun, Toma." Saga says, walking to Toma's side.

"M-Master-" Toma cuts himself off as Saga brings the blade dangerously close to Toma's throat, making Zoro and I tense.

"The time for games is over." Saga says and his eyes begin to glow. Toma gazes at the sword in fear as it begins to glow and the power begins to wash over him, making his eyes glow too.

"Pika!" I cry in alarm, stepping towards them.

"Don't move or he dies." Saga says, glancing at me. I stop and grit my teeth as Toma's eyes become devoid of emotion and will; he had finally fallen to the sword.

"Now, go to your designated position." Saga orders.

"Yes sir." Toma drones and begins to walk towards the gate.

"Pika pi!" _'Toma, no!'_ I exclaim.

"Toma!" Zoro yells.

"I will possess the sword of justice…" Toma says flatly. "Justice is power!" He raises his sword with a maniacal laugh and runs out of the gate.

"Pika!" _'Toma!'_ I yell, running after him but stopping as he vanishes into the forest.

"You bastard!" Zoro growls as we turn to Saga. "Do you have any idea what you just did to him?! You're sending him to a fate worse than death!"

"Toma is weak, in both his heart and his body." Saga says, as if that justifies everything.

"You're wrong!" Zoro exclaims. "He had the will to pursue his dream; the same will you used to have!" His eyes narrow. "You're not the Saga I remember!"

"You're right, I'm not the man I was." Saga says, holding the sword towards the sky as a red moon begins to rise. "And I will be reborn yet again!" He faces Zoro, a crazy glint in his eye. "And you will make my dream come true!"

"Saga-!" Zoro can't even get a word in as Saga rushes at him, his sword swinging madly. "Dammit, snap out of it Saga!" Zoro yells.

As I watch, the clanging of their swords echo in my head. Two old friends, fighting for different causes, evenly matched with physical fighting moves.

My eyes widen as Zoro and Saga are replaced with myself and Sandy, our iron tails clashing together and locking every chance we get. I blink and shake my head making the images vanish, almost feeling the band on my tail shiver; this is no time for a stroll down memory lane!

Zoro pushes Saga away and Saga raises his sword with a chuckle and Zoro gets into an attack stance. "Tiger Slash!" He lunges towards Saga, but he easily leaps away. "Onigiri!" Zoro launches into another attack, but Saga blocks it without any trouble. This could be bad.

"Don't you understand; those attacks won't work." Saga says, before placing the tip of his sword on the ground. "But you will once you feel dark fire."

My eyes widen and I make my way towards Zoro. He locks eyes with me for a split second and Saga scrapes the tip of the sword against the ground.

"Youkazan!" A wall of green fire shoots towards Zoro and I leap right above him. I launch an electric attack and manage to keep it at bay for a few seconds. I land on Zoro's back, not stopping, but the fire eventually pushes through and envelops us.

I cling to Zoro as we're pushed back to the wall, my lightning mixing with the fire. Zoro raises his swords and runs towards Saga, still covered in the lightning flames and I add a bit more electricity to Zoro's swords. It catches Saga off guard, but he still manages to block it.

"But how?" Zoro asks. "I was sure I cut that sword!"

"You can't win by simply attacking the Seven Star Sword." Saga says. I wince from the burns of the fire; this isn't going to end well.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to simply kill you." Saga says. "The sword must drink every drop of your blood." Saga rushes towards us and I leap off Zoro's shoulder. "Snake Fang Strike!" He launches into a series of thrusts with Zoro barely manages to block and dodge.

I make my tail iron and jump in whenever I can, but my attacks don't even make him flinch. My eyes widen as Saga pulls back and his sword glows with blue flames. Zoro and I jump back as a blue flaming snake emerges from the sword. Zoro slices at it with all his might, but even Zoro can't do much against flames.

I try to shock it, but it moves too fast, like a whip! The snake then begins to lash out for blood, giving Zoro a short but good bite on the arm and the leg. It's trying to drink his blood! I jump in and try my hardest to keep the snake away, but this thing is too damn fast!

I watch as the snake begins to curl around Zoro, aiming for his back. _'Oh no you don't!'_

I leap and shove Zoro out of the way just in time, but with not enough time to save myself. My eyes widen as burning fangs sink into my back. Saga grins and I let out a scream as the snake drags me into the air. It throws me into the air for a moment before catching me with its fangs, shaking me back and forth like a rag doll. The snake finally throws me towards the ground, making me skid across the hard floor.

I shiver with pain as I feel blood start to drench my back while I slowly get on all fours. Unfortunately, I'm unable to recover fast enough as Zoro is hit with another one of those flame attacks, sending him to the ground. He reaches for Yubashiri, which he had dropped, but Saga kicks it away.

My eyes widen as he raises his sword ever so slightly, right above Zoro's hand. I force myself to get up and run, making my tail iron. Zoro's eyes widen as I place myself between him and Saga, locking my tail with his sword.

Saga glares at me, "Such a loyal companion." He sneers.

I yelp as he knocks me away, adding another bloody wound to my back. Zoro and I both glare at him as the sword absorbs my blood in an instant; at least he hasn't gotten that much of Zoro's blood yet.

"Soon the Red Moon will reach its zenith, and I will become one with the Seven Star Sword." Saga says, staring at the moon. "And then, the war I seek will truly begin; blood will be spilled and it shall truly be a world of darkness that I shall rule!"

Saga laughs and Zoro slowly gets to his feet, picking up Wado. He lunges at Saga but he's easily disarmed yet again. "Youkazan!" My eyes widen as an orb of green fire shoots towards Zoro from the sword.

I zoom forward with my Skull Bash and collide with the attack, but it shoves me back, sending me flying. I slam into Zoro's chest and we both go flying up into the upper wall. Zoro wraps an arm around me as we fall and manages to land on his side before onto his stomach to not crush me, only covering me with his arm.

I can barely hear Saga's voice as my body begs me to rest, when three beams of light shoot into the sky. My eyes slightly widen as a barrier begins to cover the sky, greatly dulling the color of the Red Moon.

Maya did it! The others managed to get to the towers! However, Saga doesn't sound too happy, as the sword's green light fades and he kneels in pain.

I hear Saga let out a pained and angered cry when consciousness finally leaves me.

* * *

When I finally open my eyes again, I'm still under Zoro's arm. Everything still hurts, and Zoro still isn't moving. I gaze up at the sky and realize that the barrier is gone and the Red Moon is brighter than ever. Did something happen to Maya? And...oh no, where' Saga?!

"Saga…" I look as Zoro shifts and he slowly gets on all fours. He continues to mutter to himself as he slowly gets to his feet and moves towards Wado, which is stuck in the ground. He picks it up and stares at the Red Moon before collapsing once again, unmoving.

"Pika…" _'Zoro…'_ I force myself to get on all fours and limp over to him. My back still feels warm and wet; I must still be bleeding. I gaze at Zoro and see that he's out cold. But he can't be done now! He has to stop Saga! He has to save him!

I grit my teeth and slowly begin to squirm under him. _'Don't you dare give up now…'_

I squeeze under him, making my way towards his chest. _'Don't make the same mistake I did…'_

I make it so that his middle is directly on my back. _'Don't let your friend suffer because you weren't strong enough!'_

Sandy's final reserved expression in that crumbling temple burns itself into my eyes and my wounds no longer feel pain. Alright...one...two...three!

I grit my teeth and straighten my legs, trying my hardest to keep them from shaking. Zoro slowly but surely lifts off the ground, balancing on my back. I nod and take a shaky step, followed by another, and another.

After a few moments, I'm walking out of the dojo and towards the temples. I can feel the fur and skin from my back wounds pulling from Zoro's weight but I ignore it; if Zoro can keep going while injured, then I can too!

We make our way through the forest, the destruction becoming more imminent as we near the temple. Zoro's hand is still tightly holding Wado as it's dragged on the ground with his limbs and lower half.

A little while later, a shockwave of power washes over the forest, making me shudder. That definitely didn't sound good. Luckily, I think it woke up Zoro as he began to shift on my back. "Pika. Pikachu." _'Zoro, wake up.'_

Zoro opens his eyes and glances around, "What...are you…?" He manages.

"Pika pika, pika pi." _'You have to get to Saga.'_ I say, continuing to walk, even picking up the pace a bit. _'Your fight's not done yet.'_

"Dammit rodent…" Zoro grunts.

"Pikachu." _'Don't even start.'_ I say sharply. _'You may be the strongest swordsman but someone still has to keep an eye on you.'_

Zoro stays silent after that, and soon we're yards away from the ruined temple. The sword is nowhere in sight, but Saga is standing under the moon with the shape of the sword on his chest. Why do all these situations we end up in always go from bad to worse?

Zoro begins to shift more and I stop walking; he's trying to get up, so I let him. He shakily gets to his feet and ties his bandana around his head. "Luffy!" He calls as we both arrive on the scene.

"Hey Zoro, Pika-chan, where have you two been?" Luffy says. You really don't want us to answer that.

"This is my fight." Zoro says. "Don't interfere!" He says it to both me and Luffy. Fine by me. Zoro's not going to lose this, I can feel it.

"Saga." Zoro says. "You're a swordsman...so fight with a sword." He tosses a discarded blade to Saga who catches it, and they get into a fighting stance. This is it.

I lie down near a boulder and finally allow my body to rest as I watch them closely. I look up as the stars in the sky begins to glow, as well as the sword mark on Saga's chest. Saga howls and plunges his sword into the ground, creating a giant wave. I barely make it out of the way as Zoro is flung into the air.

"Zoro! You're the man who will become the world's greatest swordsman!" Luffy yells. "There's nothing you can't cut! You can even cut the moon!"

He's right! Nothing will ever stand in the way of Zoro, no matter what! He'll always fight for his dream...even if his friend stands in the way!

"PIKACHU!" _'GO ZORO!'_ I yell.

Zoro raises Wado as Saga flies towards him, and with one strike, Saga's sword breaks, allowing Zoro to slash him across the chest. Zoro lands while Saga falls to the ground, green light emerging from the chest wound, causing the sword mark to vanish. I get to my feet as Saga gives Zoro one last smile before succumbing to unconsciousness; it's finally over. Zoro saved Saga.

And if I remember right, this is usually the part when...yep! I rush over to Zoro as he falls backwards. I leap up, pushing against his back and manage to slow his descent before allowing him to fully lie down. I stand next to his head and see that he's sleeping; lazy bastard.

Luffy comes towards us before a familiar rumbling noise fills the air. "I'm hungryyyyyy…" Luffy whines, falling to his knees and falling asleep right on the spot. Of course you are, you rubber glutton.

"Pikachu." I say with a slight laugh as I give Zoro a gentle tap on the head. The red light from the moon fades, leaving the gentle night sky and Maya goes over to Saga while I keep an eye on my friends.

I sit and lean against Zoro's shoulder; there really is more to this guy than just sleeping and training. And I gotta say, I'm glad he's on our side.

"Luffy!"

"Zoro!"

"Pika-chan!"

"Maya!"

A smile comes to my face as I look up to see all our friends coming towards us. "Pika!" I cry, half limping-half running towards Sanji.

I manage to leap into his arms but squeal in pain once he tries to hug me. My back stings like there's no tomorrow! He quickly pulls away, his hand coming away slightly bloody from the wounds on my back and I hear Chopper scream. "Ahh! Pika-chan! You're hurt!"

Sanji kneels down so the tiny doctor can get to me and I sigh as they both begin fussing over me, Luffy, and Zoro.

* * *

Dawn had broken by the time we made it back to the village and it was late morning by the time everyone got patched up. It was then that it finally hit us that our three days were up. In other words, we had to get back to Jaya now if we wanted to catch the Knock Up Stream!

Maya and the villagers gave us tons of food as a thank you and soon we were off. Zoro sat near the rear of the ship, me lying on his leg as I let my fur soak up the sun. Saga was still unconscious by the time we left so we didn't get a chance to properly meet him, but I have a feeling we'll meet again someday. After all, he and Zoro still have to keep that promise.

"Hey Zoro! Pika-chan! Come eat with us!" Luffy calls.

Zoro doesn't answer, but I simply respond by closing my eyes. All I want to do right now is rest. I've noticed that Zoro seems less bothered whenever I nap with him. He usually sends me a look or something, but now, he doesn't even bother. It's like he expects me to join him now.

Well, guess he's finally getting used to me always being there; I'll follow these guys to the moon and back if I have to.

Just then, the boat rocks, making us all jump. "Marines?!" Nami asks.

We all run to the side of ship, me on Zoro's shoulder, to see a weird hippo-rhino emerge from the ocean. Chopper translates that apparently the Merry saved him and he fell in love at the first sight of her. Are you freaking serious?!

"But if that's the case, why is he ramming us?" Nami asks.

"It must be the courtship ritual of his species." Robin says. "In other words, he's proposing."

"PROPOSING?!" Man, can we ever catch a break?!

The hippo-rhino rammed the ship again, causing Zoro to back into the mast, me still clinging to him. "What the hell did you guys do while we were gone?!"

"Pika pikachu!" _'We can't leave you alone for a minute, can we?!'_

Luffy laughs and runs to the head of the ship, "C'mon guys! Full speed ahead!" He yells. "Next stop, Sky Island!"

I let a smile come to my face as we continue to sail all while trying to avoid the hippo-rhino. After everything that happened here, I have a feeling Sky Island will be tame compared to this!

* * *

 **Oh parallels, parallels I LOVE PARALLELS! There's no better feeling than when you realize that something you wrote actually connects with something in canon that you didn't realize before hand! Oh Sandy, your death gave us so much but...*sniff*...I miss you! :'(**

 **Alright, next up, finish up Jaya and head to Sky Island. Ooooh I can't wait! *happy dance***


	61. To The Sky!

**Quick note: Next week's chapter will be posted on Thursday instead of Friday. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. It's just a special day and both this story and 'Perks of the Smallest are going to get an update, so look forward to it! X3**

* * *

It took for freaking ever to lose that hippo-rhino. After running from it long enough, it finally decided that the Merry declined his proposal and swam back home. At least now we can finally get back to Jaya and get ready for our trip. We stayed longer than intended on Aska Island and Cricket still needs to finish reinforcing the Merry so we can catch the stream in the morning. We're really gonna be cutting it close.

Once we're well into the night, a good time past midnight, Jaya comes back into view, as well as Cricket's house. "We made it!" Luffy exclaims as we both sit on the head of the Merry.

"Pika!"

"Hey Pops! We're back!" Luffy calls, waving.

My smile fades as we draw closer, my ears twitching. Something's not right. "Hm? What's wrong, Pika-chan?" Luffy asks, noticing my frown. I get up on all fours and squint as Cricket's house comes closer. My eyes slowly widen as I see a hole going through the place, as well as three figures lying on the ground, unmoving. "Pika!" I exclaim, pointing ahead, catching everyone's attention.

"What is it?" Luffy asks, still not understanding.

"Pika pi! Pi pikachu, pika pika!" I say frantically, pointing ahead more vigorously.

Everyone comes to the front of the ship and we finally sail close enough to see what happened. Cricket's house is just about destroyed, and Cricket, Masira, and Shoujo are lying among the wreckage, beaten and bloody.

"Wh...What happened here?" Nami asks.

"The better question is, who did this?" Sanji says. We quickly drop anchor and run over to the fallen trio, Chopper quickly going into doctor mode.

Luffy and I hurry over to Cricket as he coughs and stirs, "Hey Pops! You're alive!" Luffy exclaims.

"I'm really sorry about this kid…" Cricket mutters. "We did everything we could to stop 'em…"

My ears twitch; stop who? Who the hell could've done something like this? My eyes widen as Cricket starts to sit up, "Pika pi!" I exclaim, touching his arm.

"We got to get moving...your ship isn't gonna refit itself."

"Hold on!" Luffy grabs his arm. "Tell us what happened; who did this to you?!"

"It's fine, don't worry about it…" Cricket says. "It doesn't matter anymore…"

My eyes narrow and I tap Cricket angrily, "Pika pika, pi pika pikachu!" _'Of course it matters, this is anything but fine! Who did this to you?!'_

"Luffy!" Nami calls from Cricket's destroyed house. "Cricket's gold is gone!"

We all start; that's what this is about? Someone came and beat Cricket, Masira, and Shoujo senseless just to steal their gold?! Cricket waves his hand, "Just forget about it; it doesn't matter anymore." I grit my teeth; stop saying that, dammit! Stop acting like your life doesn't matter!

"Forget it; how can you say that?!" Usopp demands. "Think of what you went through to get that gold! You can't just-"

"Shut up!" Cricket snaps. "That gold and what happens to it is our problem; right now, your ship is in no shape to take on the Knock-Up Stream. If we get the rest of the Saruyama Alliance crew here, we should have you ready to set sail by morning."

"Pikachu…" I say uneasily.

Cricket looks down and gives me a grin, "Don't worry; we'll send you to the sky, I promise."

 _'Cricket…'_

"Hey Luffy." Zoro calls. We turn to him to see him pointing at a strange mark painted onto Cricket's house. My eyes widen as the mark triggers anger that I haven't felt for a while.

"That's Bellamy's mark!" Nami exclaims.

My eyes narrow dangerously and my body stiffens; that inconsiderate, conniving, arrogant, cocky son of a _bitch_! I start to unconsciously growl loudly but Luffy puts a hand on my head, putting a stop to it. He gets up, placing a hand on his hat.

"You need any help?" Zoro asks.

"No, I'll handle this alone." Luffy says.

"Luffy, we don't have time for this; we have to set sail in three hours!" Nami exclaims.

Luffy doesn't respond and turns to Robin, "If I follow the coast, will that take me back to Mock Town?" He asks.

"Yes, I believe so." Robin answers.

"Kid, don't be an idiot!" Cricket exclaims as Luffy begins to walk off. "There's no way you can take that man on alone!" I think you're underestimating what our captain is capable of.

"If you want to stop him, use this." Zoro says, holding Wado to him. I think that about sums it up; there's no stopping Luffy when he gets serious.

"I'll be back by morning, guys." Luffy says.

Nami sighs in resignation and steps towards Luffy, "Three hours, that's all the time you have." She says. "If you're any later than that, we'll lose our chance to go to Sky Island."

Luffy nods, "That's all the time I need."

I frown as I watch him go. I glance back at the others before running after Luffy without a word. I won't be any help if I sit here. I don't plan on helping Luffy with the fight, I know Luffy can take out Bellamy with one blow, maybe even less! But I have a feeling that the only way to quell this anger is to witness that asshole get his just desserts.

By the time the night is over, Bellamy and his men will know to fear the Straw Hat pirates.

* * *

By the time I reach Mock Town, the fight has already just begun. Luffy and Bellamy are staring at each other on the roof of a building, and all of Bellamy's crewmates are gathered outside to watch. Good; this means I can easily sneak around unnoticed.

"Can you even fight?" Bellamy sneers at Luffy. "Do you even know how to throw a punch?" Oh, you'll get the answer to that real soon, you bastard.

I drown out the rest of Bellamy's words and sneak behind a few buildings before peeking out. I inwardly growl as I hear Fur Coat talking about how Luffy's not worth their time. If Luffy doesn't take him out during this rumble, then I'm calling dibs. That fur coat is gonna be burnt as black as the night sky.

I draw my attention back to Luffy and Bellamy and the latter finally makes a move. I watch as Bellamy's legs become springs, launching him off the roof. So he's a Devil Fruit user? Maybe when this is over I should drag his beaten and bloody body into the ocean. Maybe paralyze him for good measure too.

I blink; whoa, chill out Pika-chan! This isn't your fight...kinda.

Bellamy begins springing off the walls of buildings and the ground, attempting to land some speedy attacks. This guy sure is fast. I manage to resist the urge to pull my ears off as Bellamy goes on and on about how Luffy's a little brat who still believes in fairy tales and is a disgrace to pirates everywhere. Unfortunately, Bellamy manages to land a hit and sends Luffy to the ground. I bite back the urge to growl as the rest of the Bellamy pirates start laughing and Luffy stands up.

"You don't know when to quit, do you?" Bellamy says. You've obviously never met the guy. "Have it your way; the fun's just getting started!"

I climb onto the roof of the building I'm next to to get a better view as Bellamy springs off the roof. This time he begins springing from one flat surface to another, picking up speed with every jump. Eventually you can hardly even see him anymore. Thankfully, I'm out of the fight zone and his high speed makes it hard to pick up everything Bellamy is saying, and thank Arceus for that.

Luffy on the other hand, is taking in every word Bellamy says, his face growing darker by the second. Bellamy's arrogance is doing nothing except fueling Luffy's rage and will. "You asked if I knew how to throw a punch." Luffy finally says, raising his fist. Here we go.

"Hurry up and beat him so we can go back to drinking Bellamy!" Fur Coat remarks with a laugh. I swear to Arceus, that guy is so freaking dead!

"SO LONG, STRAW HAT!" Bellamy howls and zooms towards Luffy at top speed.

Without hesitation, Luffy strikes. The next second, Bellamy is on the ground, Luffy's fist imprinted in his skull, his eyes blank and blood dripping from his face. The rest of the Bellamy pirates look on in fear as Luffy turns to them, "Now...where's Cricket's gold?"

A number of the pirates run away in terror and a grin grows on my face. Arceus, that felt good! Luffy comes out of the pub a few moments with the gold and Fur Coat falls to his knees in front of Bellamy, who still isn't moving. "It's not possible...how could we lose?" Ugh, he's _still_ talking?

Fur Coat clenches his fists and gets to his feet, "Hey you! Come back here you stupid runt!"

I growl and charge up my electricity. Guess this guy is just gonna have to learn the hard way.

Fur Coat begins to move after Luffy. "Where are you going?! Come back here! I'll show you-"

I charge up and send a short but sharp shock his way, enough juice to stop him in his tracks and make him fall flat on his back, his fur coat burnt black like I promised.

"Th...That was...lightning?" One of the pirates stutters.

"And it-it was yellow! J-J-Just like-" The pirate cuts himself off and they all slowly turn to see me. Safe to say that they recognize my lightning from that day in the pub. My face and figure are completely obscured by the darkness and the shadows, but I think my ears are prominent.

They all freeze up as I glare at them, sending a silent message. _'Mess with them again, and I'll make sure that you experience a living hell.'_

I quickly take off, disappearing behind the roof and quickly scamper out of town under the cover of darkness and the multiple buildings. And soon, I'm on my way back along the coast to the Merry.

* * *

For some reason, I make it back way before Luffy, just as the sun is peeking out from the sea. Luckily, everyone was so focused on the ship that they didn't notice that I left. The fact that I can sneak away so easily without them realizing is a tad disconcerting to me.

By the time I got back, they were just putting on the finishing touches on the Going Merry: Flying Edition. Or to me, it looked more like the Going Merry: Chicken Addition. I never knew the Merry could look more silly than it already did, and here I am, proven wrong again.

Luffy arrived nearly an hour late because he apparently got sidetracked looking for a stupid beetle. Man, I should've kept a better eye on him… Luffy gives back Cricket's gold, we say our goodbyes, and we hurry and set sail, Masira and Shoujo's ships sailing beside us as our guides as well as our South Bird.

We had kept the guy in a cage below deck the past three days so he was pretty anxious to stretch his wings. But he was still pretty peeved at being caught; can't say he didn't deserve it.

"Watch this!" Luffy says and turns the bird's head to point to the right. He then lets go and the bird's head snaps back to forward position. "He has to face south, no matter what!" Luffy laughs.

The bird lets out a caw as I pull the bird's head to the left and repeat the process, causing me to snicker.

"He says that he'll face a different direction on purpose and laugh once we get lost." Chopper translates.

"I'd like to see you try!" Luffy says. The bird caws and faces the opposite direction, but a few seconds later, he snaps right back to face south, making us all laugh despite the bird's angry calls. Call this payback for all that crap you threw at us in the forest, feather-brain.

We all sail and relax for a few hours until we spy the Cumulo Regalus up ahead, and a full hour earlier than expected. Shoujo dispatches some divers to look for the current and I curl into myself as he uses his Havoc Sonar to communicate. Even though it's not an attack, I feel like my ears are gonna explode from the high frequency! Having long ears sucks!

The waves get higher as we make our way towards the current and we all stumble to keep our balance. I end up holding onto Robin's leg as Nami looks at the Log Pose. "The wind direction is perfect! The Cumulo Regalus is lining up perfectly with the whirlpool!" She says. That's a good thing, right?

Masira dispatches two hooks that latch onto the Merry, "We'll guide you to the outer edge, you guys ride the current towards the center!" He instructs.

"You want us to go to the center?!" Nami squeaks. "I don't remember signing up for this!"

"I changed my mind, I wanna go back!" Usopp yells.

"Sorry Usopp, You-Know-Who is already excited." Zoro says as Luffy laughs with pure glee. Yep, we're stuck here, whether we like it or not.

The boat picks up speed as it enters the current of the whirlpool and Masira's ship releases us before they can get sucked in too. "The rest is up to you now!" Masira calls.

"Bye guys! Thanks for everything!" Luffy calls. Now that we're in the current, the ship is sailing a lot smoother, and I let go of Robin's leg, able to keep my balance.

Finally, we get fully sucked in and the boat leaves the water as we sail right into the center. Thanks to the Merry's new wings, we land a lot softer than normal...but the whirlpool is gone.

"What happened?" Sanji asks.

"Where did it go?" Usopp agrees. I glance around as silence surrounds us and I move towards the railing.

"I can feel it." Nami says. "The whirlpool sunk under the surface!"

My ears twitch and a large shiver runs up my spine. Something's coming. Something big. "Pika…"

"Hold it right there!" A voice yells.

We all turn to see what looks like a giant raft, carrying four people. Luffy, Zoro and Nami seem to recognize the owner of the voice from Mock Town, but I don't. I must've missed him in Mock Town; I was focused on _other things_ after all.

"Straw Hat Luffy, I've come to collect your 100 million berri bounty!" The man says. Oh is that all? Wait...100 million?

Usopp pulls out his binoculars and sees that the man is holding two new wanted posters. Zoro's bounty has gone up to 60 million, while Luffy's has gone up to 100 million! Damn, Alabasta must've really caused a bigger stir than I thought! Luffy's already broken into the hundreds!

My awe is quickly doused as another shiver runs up my spine. I run to the railing and realize that the sea is beginning to get lower beneath us. We're lifting up! It's happening! "Pika pika!" I yell.

Everyone catches on and begin to move around. "Everyone grab hold of something or get inside!" Sanji yells. Sanji and I hold onto the railing, both of Sanji's arms on either side of me, keeping me between him and the railing. We press ourselves against the railing tightly as we slowly rise higher and higher.

There's a loud boom, a spray of water and we're flying up. Or rather, sailing up a giant pillar of water. The ship is just about sailing at a 90 degree angle, almost like when we went up Reverse Mountain or the Grand Fall on Hannibal Island. I'm careful to keep a tight grip on Sanji as wind blows from behind us.

"How are we doing this?!" Usopp yells.

"This is awesome!" Luffy yells.

Sanji glances around and places a hand on my back, "It's not gonna be that easy!" He says.

"What's wrong?" Luffy asks.

"The hull's starting to float!" Sanji says. Now that you mention it, it does feel like we're starting to fall backwards-oh crap! "If we don't stop it, we're gonna fall into the ocean!"

"Then what can we do?" Zoro asks. "There's not much we can do when we're at the mercy of mother nature."

"I guess we just hold on and hope for the best!" Sanji says, pressing on my back harder to keep me on his shoulder. In response I cling as tightly as I can. Chopper and Usopp scream as debris from ruined ships fall around us; oh man, this is really pushing my fear factor!

"Spread the sails!" Nami says suddenly. "It may be a pillar of water, but it's still a part of the ocean!"

I brighten in relief; of course! We're still sailing, just up! And the wind is behind us! It's perfect! We spread the sails and turn the ship, aligning her with the current.

"Uh Nami? We're rising above the water, is that okay?" Chopper asks. Luckily, his question is answered as the ship leaves the water and the sails fully catch the wind, giving us a huge burst of speed.

"We're flying!" Luffy yells in pure joy.

We're going so fast I'm practically hanging from Sanji's shoulder, causing him to grab me and hold me to his chest. We're flying straight up the current; nothing's holding us back now!

We're heading to the sky!

* * *

 **MM! That Bellamy fight! SO satisfying! And Sarquiss got his comeuppance too! Justice has been served on this day!**

 **And now... *punches the air* TO THE SKY!**


	62. Sky Knight

**Alright! New chapter today! And why? Well, because it's June 16th! In other words it's this story's ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! *fires party poppers***

 **I'm sure some of you think this is pointless, but if people can hold birthday parties for pets and computer game avatars, then I can do this too!**

 **If you haven't already, 'Perks of the Smallest' was updated today as well and it's a very special chapter commemorating this day and Pika-chan in general, so check it out! Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

The ship bursts through the clouds and the temperature suddenly drops. Spots dot my vision as all I can see are clouds and all I can hear is the wind. It feels like we're going so fast that we're breaking the sound barrier!

Finally, there's a burst of light and the wind comes to a halt, letting us drop with a loud crash. The next thing I know, I'm gasping for air and coughing, my lungs begging for sustenance. I'm soaking wet and slumped in Sanji's arms.

I look up at my friend and see he's pale and soaked like me and breathing heavily. "Pika...chu?" I ask, swallowing and gulping more air; it feels so thin.

"I'm fine…" Sanji breathes. "You...okay?"

I give a nod, too focused on breathing to give a straight answer.

"Everyone alright?" Zoro asks breathlessly. Everyone makes a noise so I guess we all survived; that was a good sign. Once we get our breath back we gaze out from the Merry to be met with a sea of clouds.

"Wow! Look at all the clouds!" Chopper squeals excitedly.

"But how?" Nami wonders. "Why aren't we falling?"

Luffy shrugs, "Clouds float, boats float, same thing."

"No, it's not." Zoro, Sanji, and Chopper deadpan.

"Pika pika." I agree. I had to admit, I had expected running into strange stuff in the Grand Line, but not something like this!

"Ah! Usopp's not breathing!" Chopper yells, kneeling over Usopp.

"He's not?! Quick do mouth to mouth or something!" Luffy yells.

"I'll do mouth to mouth on Nami!" Sanji yells and I sweep my tail under him.

"Idiot…" Zoro mutters.

"Pika…"

Chopper presses on Usopp's chest a few times and he wakes up; should've known there was nothing to worry about. But still, this is amazing! We're basically in a n ocean in the sky!

"But wait, the Log Pose is still pointing up!" Nami says.

"Then we must still be in the middle of the Cumulo Regalus cloud." Robin says.

"Wait, so we have to travel even higher?" Chopper asks.

"That's what the Log Pose says." Robin says. Well, if we're not falling I think I'm okay with sailing higher into the sky. I can't believe I'm able to say that sentence out loud…

"Here I go!" My ears twitch and I turn to see Usopp, his shirt off and posing on the railing, Luffy and Chopper cheering happily. "Cloud ocean swimming champ Usopp!" Uh no, no, you don't want to do that.

"You can't swim here. We have no idea if this is safe or not." Thank you, Sanji.

But Usopp slips on his goggles and dives into the clouds. "He did it!" Luffy exclaims.

"He's so brave!" Chopper squeals. I facepalm; he's always brave during the worst times! Luffy and Chopper then pout and lean on the railing.

"I wish I could swim…" Luffy whines.

"I bet it's the funnest thing ever…" Chopper agrees.

I sit on the railing next to them and give them a look, "Pika pikachu…" _'It's probably no different than swimming in normal water…'_

We all watch the clouds for a while, but Usopp shows no sign of resurfacing. Um...should we do something?

"You know...this ocean might not have an actual bottom." Robin remarks.

"WHAT?!"

You're telling us this _now?!_

"USOPP!" Luffy yells and stretches his arm into the clouds.

"Luffy, keep stretching as far as you can!" Robin orders.

"I am, but I can't see where he is!" Luffy cries desperately.

"Leave that to me." Robin crosses her arms and closes her eyes. "Ojos Fleur!" Robin stays silent in concentration while Luffy keeps stretching. I fidget anxiously on the railing; hurry up Robin! After a few moments, Robin tells Luffy where to go and Luffy starts pulling back up.

"Is he happy?" Chopper asks.

"Pika pika pikachu!" _'If he was, we wouldn't have to be pulling him out!'_

After a few moments, Usopp comes flying out and back onto the ship. "He's back!" Nami exclaims happily.

"But he's not alone!" Luffy yells as a giant octopus and sea serpent emerge from the water. Arceus, even here?! Why do sea monsters have to appear everywhere we go?! Zoro runs and jumps towards the closest tentacle of the octopus, giving it a few good slices. But instead of being cut into pieces, the tentacle popped, like a balloon.

"Pi?" I tilt my head.

The serpent lunges towards the ship, but Sanji flips up and gives it a good kick making feathers fly off its body. Wait, feathers? The serpent flops over and ends up being hinged on the side of the ship by its fangs and I leap up onto its head to get a closer look. Sure enough, this thing is covered in purple feathers, but they aren't fluffy. Sure they're soft, but they aren't like feathers you would find on a bird. They're smooth and flat, almost like furry scales.

"How can there be fish up in the clouds?" Nami asks.

"You said best yourself; it's basically an ocean in the sky." Robin says. Yeah, that sounds about right. Sea creatures with feathers is pretty fitting for a sky ocean.

I leap off the serpent just as Usopp is finally coming to his senses, though he's still pretty pale. He jerks up with a yelp and starts flailing. "What is it this time?" Sanji asks.

"Th-There's something in my pants!" Usopp yelps. He pulls something out, flings it towards me and proceeds to continue his breakdown.

I glance down at the object only to see a decent sized fish flopping about. A really strange looking fish. It's sky blue and flat as a pancake, and it has those same feather scales as the serpent. I pin it down to stop its flopping and lean towards it, giving it a few sniffs.

"Well, would you look at that?" I look up as Robin comes over and picks up the fish. "This must be one of the Sky Fish Noland described in his Log."

"Pika?"

"It seems that the fish here somehow evolved to survive up here in the clouds." Robin says.

"You mean they turned all flat and balloony?" Zoro asks.

"To make themselves lighter." Robin confirms. Well, I guess you would have to be pretty light to be able to swim in the sky without falling like Usopp almost did. Luffy takes the fish and I follow as he brings it to Sanji. Literally ten seconds later, Luffy's holding a plate with steaming hot Sky Fish.

"I tried sauteeing it." Sanji says.

I sit on Luffy's shoulder as we both eat a forkful of the fish. "Delicious!"

"Pikachu!" That is probably the tastiest fish I've ever eaten! Second to the Bluefin Tuna, of course.

"Let's cook the big one next!" Luffy says.

"Hey guys!" Chopper calls. I turn to see him looking out with the binoculars. "I see a-" He cuts himself before shrieking.

"Pikachu?" 'What is it?' I ask, hurrying over to him. I leap up next to him and he shakily hands me the binoculars. I peer through them and I can see why he's distressed. There's a ship a good distance away, but it's smoking and split in half! But that's not all. There's a figure near the ship that's standing on the clouds...and he's coming this way!

I put down the binoculars in alarm as Chopper tries to tell the others around his frantic screams, but by the time they catch on, the figure is already zooming right towards us.

"Hey! What do you want?" Sanji calls.

"To destroy you!" The figure says and I finally get a good look at him. He's wearing wings, a weird mask, and carrying a shield and a bazooka.

"Oh, is that all?" My thoughts exactly.

"He's mine." Zoro says, getting his sword ready.

I blink as I take in his speed and hurry of the railing just in time for him to nail Sanji with a kick to the head. "Pika!"

Zoro goes in to attack, but the masked man gives him a sharp kick in the chest before he can retaliate and jumps up to strike Luffy as well. They must still be getting used to the thin air, 'cause they're going down like flies!

I activate Brick Break and move towards the masked man; my breathing seems normal so I think I'll be okay. I swing a few times, but he dodges every blow and ends up on the railing. He leaps high above us and aims his bazooka at us.

"He's gonna blow us up!" Chopper screams.

I leap into action and launch an electric attack. It clearly catches the guy off guard because he isn't able to dodge it. "What the…?" He looks at me through his mask and zooms right towards me. I launch another electric attack, but he's ready this time and dodges it. He gives me a swift kick to the jaw, sending me straight up into the air, spinning rapidly. "Even the White Sea isn't safe from your anarchy, is it?"

"Pika-chan!" Nami yells.

I manage to stop myself from spinning and look just in time as the masked man zooms towards me again. I barely dodge his kick and activate Iron Tail this time. I give a good swing, but the man brings up his shield to block it. I wince as he suddenly grabs me by the ear and flings me out towards the cloud sea.

"Oh no!" Chopper yells.

The masked man flies towards me and I quickly launch another electric attack. It hits, but the masked man acts like he doesn't feel it. I ready my Brick Break and I block another blow by his foot, but I fail to realize that his other foot is right above me. Oh crap…

"Back from whence you came, demon!" The masked man growls and plunges his foot towards me, sending me flying right towards the cloud sea. Oh Arceus, I don't wanna know how far I'll sink down there at this speed! I hear the others yelling for me and my eyes widen as the masked man aims his bazooka at me. He wants to make me fall and blow me up?! The others yell out for me when-

"That's enough, villain!"

I look up as a shadow seems to be flying towards me. Just as I'm inches from the ocean, a hard surface appears under me. I look down to see...spots? I hear a squawk and I look to see that I'm on the back of a pink bird with brown spots. The masked man is still above us, but another man wearing armor and a long white beard just attacked his shield with a long spear.

The blow forces the masked man into the cloud sea while the armored man lands behind me on the bird as we fly along the surface of the cloud water. "Don't worry little one, you're safe." The armored man says. I stare at him as the bird swoops up and turns back towards the Merry. The bird lands and the armored man dismounts along with me.

"Oh great, who are you?" Nami asks.

"Miss, you may call me the Sky Knight." The armored man says.

"Pika-chan, are you okay?" Chopper asks, coming over to me.

"Pika." I say with a nod. _'I'm fine.'_

"Thanks for saving us." Chopper says with a bow.

"Pikachu!" I say gratefully with a bow as well; if he hadn't shown up when he did I'd probably be halfway back to the ocean by now!

"I'm just doing my duty." Sky Knight says.

"Who the heck was that guy?" Nami asks. She then turns to Luffy, Zoro and Sanji, who are still breathing heavily. "And you three, could you be any more pathetic? You had that guy outnumbered!"

"What gives?" Sanji asks breathlessly. "I feel...so weak…"

"Yeah...I could barely move…" Luffy agrees.

"It must be because of the thin air." Robin suggests. Yeah, I figured as much.

"Oh please, Pika-chan took him on easily!" Nami scoffs. "If something as tiny as Pika-chan could evenly fight an armed man, you could have too!" Uh...thanks?

"It could be that Pika-chan was able to adjust to the thin air faster since its body is so small." Chopper suggests. "Or it could have something to do with Pika-chan's body structure; it can take a hit pretty well despite its size so it's possible that Pika-chan has stronger lungs than humans."

"Pikachu." I say with a shrug. I wouldn't know.

"I'm assuming that you people are Blue Sea dwellers." Sky Knight says, walking to the upper deck.

"Blue Sea dwellers?" Nami asks.

"It's what we call people who live below the clouds." Sky Knight answers. "You must have traveled here from the Blue Sea."

"Yep, that's right." Luffy says.

Sky Knight nods, "You are currently in the White Sea, seven thousand meters in the air; the White White Sea is still a long ways up in the sky, if that's where you're heading." Well that makes sense; so I guess we're on the right track.

"Now, I know you have questions but we have business to discuss." Sky Knight says, making Nami perk up. He explains that he's a soldier for hire and he goes around protecting innocents. Apparently the guy who attacked us was a guerilla and there are many around who kill any intruders. But he says if we purchase a whistle for 5 million extol, he'll protect us.

We all tilt our heads in confusion and Sky Knight gets a bit flustered by the silence, "Now, that is a very reasonable price; I can't lower it any more!"

"Yeah, but what the heck is an extol?" Sanji asks. I'm guessing it's the kind of money they use up here? If that's the case, our berris are probably worthless.

Sky Knight's eyes widen, "I don't understand; you came here from the summit of High West, didn't you? Surely you would've passed an island or two."

I frown; summit of High West? And islands? We haven't seen anything, we just got here for crying out loud!

"Wait, you're telling me there was another way we could've come up here where we would've passed an island or two?" Nami demands.

"Don't tell me you rode up by way of the Knock Up Stream!" Sky Knight responds.

"We did." Robin answers.

"So there are still souls brave enough to make the attempt…" Sky Knight mutters.

"I knew it! We risked our lives for nothing!" Nami moans before going and berating Luffy for his recklessness. I gotta admit, it would've been nice to know that there was another way this whole time. But we're already here, so no point in crying about it now.

"Did you lose any of your crew?" Sky Knight asks.

"No, we all made it." Luffy answers.

"Then consider yourselves fortunate." Sky Knight says. "If you had taken a different route, one or two of you probably would've survived; but by way of the Knock-Up Stream, either everyone lives, or everyone dies." My ears perk up; wow, we really tempted fate with that one!

Sky Knight then tosses something towards us and I barely catch it. It's a plain white whistle attached to a string.

"That is the One Whistle; it's yours to use as you see fit." Sky Knight explains. "Should you ever find yourselves in danger, blow it and I will come to your aid." He gets up onto the railing where his bird is still perched.

"Wait! We still don't know your name!" Nami says.

"I am Gan Fall, and this is my partner Pierre." Sky Knight answers and Pierre squawks. "Pierre is no ordinary bird; long ago he ate the Horse Horse Fruit and gained the power to transform into a horse while keeping his wings."

We watch as Pierre's body slowly begins to shift and becomes a horse with wings. ...A pink, brown spotted horse, with wings and a stupid face… "Wow...that's something…" Everyone mutters.

"Pikachu…"

"May luck be with you!" Sky Knight calls and rides away on Pierre. Well, for our first interaction in the sky, I think that went pretty well. I look down at the whistle still in my paws; at least we have some potential back up if things really go sour.

"Well, where are we supposed to go from here?" Zoro asks.

"I know! Let's call the old man back and ask!" Luffy says. He yanks the whistle out of my paws but Nami and Usopp jump on him before he blows.

"No Luffy, that's supposed to be for emergencies only!" Nami snaps. Yeah, if there are guerillas wandering around looking for blood, we need all the help we can get.

We decide to sail towards a bunch of clouds that look like a waterfall, and I gotta say, watching the Merry sail on clouds is pretty mind blowing. Once we get close, we stop as the way is blocked by more clouds.

"They're floating on top of the water, like icebergs." Sanji observes.

"So what? They're cloud-bergs?" Usopp asks. I'll take it.

"Ooh! Maybe I can grab a piece!" Luffy says. He rears back his fist and throws it towards the cloud, only for it to bounce right off. Luffy's face suddenly lights up and he leaps on top of the cloud, bouncing around like he's on a trampoline. "Hey! I'm not sinking!" Luffy yells. "C'mon you guys, you gotta try this!"

Chopper and Usopp jump onto the clouds and I'm not far behind. There's no way I'm missing out on this! I laugh with the other three as we bounce all around; it feels amazing! I bounce away from the others and nuzzle the soft material; it feels like we're standing on the fluffiest and bounciest pillow in the world. I could sleep forever on these things!

"Hey guys! See if you can find a route for the ship!" Nami calls.

"Hey! Come check this out!" Usopp yells. Luffy starts running towards Usopp and I bounce after him.

"What are you doing? Quit playing around and get back down here!" Nami yells. Yeah yeah, stop worrying _mom_.

"Pika-chan! We don't have time for this! Get down!" I hear Sanji yell. Sure, I'll be down in a minute, _dad_.

Luffy stops next to Usopp and I bounce onto his shoulder. We look down and we see a gate, right underneath the waterfall. Well, I think we may have found our route. We bounce back onto the ship to tell Nami.

"So there's a man-made structure in the middle of all these clouds?" Sanji asks.

"At this point, I don't think anything we find up here would surprise me." Robin says. Understatement of the decade, Robin.

After a few sharp and confusing turns we arrive at the gate. We all stare at it in amazement; Heaven's Gate huh? Well we're in the sky, so I guess that's a fitting name for it.

"It sounds like a place you go when you die." Usopp whimpers.

Zoro smirks, "Well now that you mention it, maybe we are dead, did you ever think of that?" My ears droop; Zoro, please stop being creepy.

"You know that actually would explain a lot in this weird place…" Aw c'mon Sanji, not you too! You're not supposed to agree with him!

"But I don't wanna be dead!" Chopper whines.

"Who cares? Wherever this gate's going I'm going!" Luffy laughs. Thankfully, their antics result in one head punch each from Nami. Though I'm not sure why she hit Chopper too…

Once we enter the gate, we look down as an old lady with wings walks out of a doorway, snapping photos of us. "I am Amazon, the Heaven's Gate Inspector." She says. "State your business; sightseeing? Warmongering? Other?"

"Uh...well I guess it's kinda like sightseeing." Nami tries. Yeah, that sounds about right…

"Can we say all of the above?" Zoro asks. Uh, I wouldn't go that far; we usually aren't the warmongering type.

"It hardly matters to me." Amazon says. "But first you must pay the entrance fee of 1 billion extol per person; it's the law." Oh geez, not another fee!

"They're really big on extol up here, huh?" Sanji comments as I leap onto his shoulder. Yeah, and we still don't even know what extol even look like or how much they're worth!

"I wonder how much that would be in berris…" Usopp mutters.

"It's got to be a lot!" Chopper chimes in.

"And 1 billion per person would be 8 billion in total." Robin adds.

"There's something fishy about this…" Usopp says, but Nami steps in.

"Uh, what if we don't have the money?"

"You may still pass."

"Seriously?!"

"The choice is yours; I certainly won't try to stop you." Amazon says. "My job isn't to actually guard the gate, just to ask your intentions." Oooookaaaaay…

"Well that settles it; we want to go to the Sky Islands!" Luffy says.

"But we don't have the money so we can't pay you!" Usopp adds.

"Very well." Amazon says. All of a sudden, two giant red claws emerge from the water and grab onto the broken wings of the Merry.

"What's that?!" Luffy exclaims.

"The White Sea's famous Express Lobster." Amazon answers. And with that, we zoom off on the back of a giant lobster. At least it's not trying to eat us. We zoom through the rest of the gate and up the waterfall.

"Everyone hold on!" Nami warns.

Sanji takes me off his shoulder and steps behind the rail on the upper deck, holding me in one arm while he uses the other to take a smoke. Feeling pretty secure behind Sanji's one arm, I close my eyes and feel the wind rush through my fur with an excited smile. This is actually pretty fun! I'm liking this sky place already! I hope the rest of the trip will be this good!

...Actually I probably shouldn't jinx myself early on…

* * *

 **Yeah Pika-chan, you reeeeaaaaaally shouldn't use electric attacks up here. Everyone's had bad experiences with those and they might get the wrong idea ;)**

 **Man, I still can't believe it's already been a whole year since I started this bad boy! This story has gotten over 900 reviews, and over 500 favs, and follows and I couldn't be happier. Pika-chan has become such a staple in my writing now with this story that it's getting to the point where I can't watch One Piece without sticking Pika-chan in there XD All your reviews have given my the inspiration to keep going as long as OP lasts. Pika-chan's not going away any time soon!**

 **Anyway, thank you all SO MUCH for your support this past year and I'm so glad that you've been enjoying Pika-chan's journey! I hope you'll stay with me for as long as this voyage takes!**


	63. Angel Beach

**Alright, I'm going on vacation tomorrow, lasting the whole week, but I SHOULD have Wifi. If I don't, I'll still be able to write so I'll probably make it up to you with two chapters or something. I doubt that will be the case, but just warning you ahead of time! ;)**

 **So now on with the- *sees review counter* Wha...no...no way...one...one...thousand... *sits in stunned silence as brain explodes with gratitude***

* * *

After a good long and fun ride up a winding waterfall, the lobster drops us off at the top, passing a sign that reads 'Godland Skypiea'. Safe to say we're finally at Sky Island; it even has the same name as that map Luffy found! The island is huge and beautiful, surrounded by white clouds. The buildings look expertly crafted and the sun is shining down like we're in some kind of heavenly place. Okay, this was totally worth the risk of getting up here!

We waste no time dropping anchor at the beach and exploring. The cloud water feels so odd now that I'm actually touching it. It feels a lot lighter, I can run through it way easier than normal water. The beach is made of the fluffiest clouds I've ever felt, a lot like those cloud-bergs below the waterfall. Sanji's going around giving flowers to Nami and Robin but it's been a long day, so I'll let him have this one.

I wander around for a bit, running my paws through the weird cloud sand when I hear leaves rustling. I turn towards the trees as a small figure emerges. "Su?" My eyes widen as a small silver fox with a long snout and bushy tail looks at me.

Is that a…? No...it's not like me. That's not a Pokémon, even though it totally could be one.

"Su su?" The creature says, slowly moving towards me. Yet another sign that it's not like me; I can't understand it.

"Pika." I greet, giving a wave.

The fox slowly gets closer to me until we're face to face. The fox is barely a few inches bigger than me and it sniffs my face. I take the opportunity to look over my new acquaintance and give it a few sniffs as well. We wander around in a circle, looking each other over, catching the attention of the others as well.

I smile as the fox's tail brushes my face; it's fur is really soft! I reach out with my paw and touch the bushy fur again, but the fox doesn't seem to mind. In fact, it takes the gesture as permission to get closer to me. It places its front paws on my back while I continue admiring its tail and it gets a feel for my fur as well.

After a moment, the fox gets back onto all fours and begins to nuzzle me, prompting me to nuzzle back. I hear a couple aww's from Nami and Usopp and a soft giggle from Robin. Looks like I've made my first friend in the sky!

"Hesso." My ears twitch at the unfamiliar voice. We all turn to see a young woman coming towards us. She has long braided blond hair, a pink dress, and wings on her back and she's carrying a harp. Boy, the symbolism is really off the charts up here…

"Su! Come here!" The woman calls.

"Su!" The fox responds and runs towards her. So that fox's name is Su?

"Did you come here from the Blue Sea?" The woman asks.

"Yeah, if that's what you call it." Luffy responds. "Is this your home?"

"Yes. Welcome to Skypiea's Angel Beach." The woman responds as she picks up Su. "My name is Conis, and this is Su, she's a cloud fox." A cloud fox huh? Well that confirms it; she's not a Pokémon. Oh well...

I move back to stand next to Sanji and Su leaps out of Conis' arms. She runs over and begins to nuzzle me again making me giggle.

"Su su!"

"Pika pi!"

Su begins to nudge me, prompting a little game of chase, both of us tumbling on the soft sand. Conis giggles as we come to a stop near her feet. "It seems Su has taken quite a liking to you." She says, kneeling down and giving me a pat. "Is this creature your friend too?"

"Yeah, that's Pika-chan; it's a Pikachu." Sanji answers, coming and kneeling down behind me.

"Pikachu!" I chirp, leaning into Conis' touch.

Sanji reaches out and gives Su a soft pat, making the fox very excited. "Su su! Su!" Su exclaims, enjoying the affection.

"Well, if there's anything you need, please allow me to be of service." Conis says, standing up straight. Sanji stands up as well and I think he wanted to say something sappy, but Nami pulls his ear to shush him; atta girl!

"Hey. There's someone out there." Zoro says, looking out on the water. We all look to see a man riding some sort of strange little boat on the water.

"That's my father." Conis says, before waving to him. "Hesso, Father!"

"Hesso, Conis!" The man responds.

"What's he riding on?" Nami asks.

"That's my father's waver." Conis answers. Wait, a waver? Wasn't that one of the things that-

"Gangway! It's difficult to stop this thing!" My eyes widen as the waver clears the shore at top speed and I barely leap out of the way before it crashes into a nearby tree. "Goodness...is everyone alright?" The man asks.

"You're the one who crashed!" Zoro retorts.

I let out a sigh of relief and retrieve my previous thoughts. Wasn't a waver one of the things Noland wrote about in his Log? And I think Luffy even found one a while back. Noland's story keeps sounding more and more believable by the minute.

Conis introduces us and her father introduces himself as Paguya who invites us all to eat dinner with him. Oh man, Sky Island food? If that Sky Fish tasted awesome, I really want to know what the rest of it is like!

Nami asks about the waver and Luffy asks if he can try it. It goes about as well as to be expected.

"I hope this sea is more buoyant than ours." Sanji muses as Luffy falls towards the cloud water.

"Well if he can stay floating in the air, he should be able to handle it." Zoro says. Why do you two agree on the weirdest stuff? Luffy hits the water and sinks like a rock.

"He sank." Sanji says.

"Well, it's not the first time I've been wrong." Zoro says with a shrug. Devil Fruit users aren't even spared in the sky, huh? That sucks.

"Ah! I'll save you!" My eyes widen as Chopper runs towards the water and I zoom forward and tackle him.

"Pika pika pikachu!" _'We don't need two drowning pirates, thank you very much!'_

Zoro goes to get Luffy while Nami goes to get the waver and I decide to tag along. I haven't really swam in cloud water yet, so I wanna see what it's like. Honestly, it feels like I'm swimming through damp cotton. The water feels thin, if that makes any sense, and I think the cotton feeling comes from the bits of cloud in the water.

Nami gets to the waver and I paddle towards her as she looks it over. "Hm...it looks like it requires balance on both the flat surface and the waves of the ocean...no wonder Luffy fell off." She muses.

"Pikachu?" I ask, bobbing next to the waver. _'Can you ride it?'_

Nami helps me into the waver and I shake my fur. "Let's see what this baby can do." Nami says. The second she presses onto the pedal, we're off. I squeal in alarm as I grapple and hold onto the side; this thing is fast! I close my eyes and wait for us to inevitably capsize, but we never do.

I look up to see Nami laughing. "This is wonderful!" She cheers. I peek over the side to see that we're riding on the water with ease. Wow, she's really good at this! Feeling a bit more secure, I move to the front of the waver, perching on the helm. I close my eyes as the wind flows through my fur and white water speeds by us; this is amazing! "Pika pika!" I laugh while the others cheer us on. Well, except Luffy; he's pouting that Nami got the hang of it and he didn't.

"Nami, we're invited to dinner! Come back and stop being so rude!" Look who's talking, rubber mouth.

"Go on ahead!" Nami calls. "If it's all right with Paguya, I'd like to stay out here and ride!"

"That's fine!" Paguya responds.

"Want a ride back to the shore, Pika-chan?" Nami asks.

I think for a moment before shaking my head. "Pika pika!" I say, pointing to the open sea. I can wait on food; I want to ride for a while longer!

Nami nods and turns back to the others. "Pika-chan and I will be in soon, okay?!"

"You got it, Nami!" Sanji responds.

I give them a wave and Nami and I continue riding. I move from the helm to up between the handlebars, giving myself a better view. "Riding on the sea like this without worrying about the wind is like a dream come true!" Nami exclaims. "I wonder if this would work on our sea back home?"

"Pika pika!" I agree. If Nami has one to take for a spin on our ocean, I'll gladly tag along for every ride!

Nami takes a sharp turn taking us further from Angel Beach. "Alright, let's see what this White White Sea has to offer!"

"Pikachu!" I cheer, punching the air.

We sail for a while until I spy something in the distance. It looks like another island. "Pika!" I call, pointing it out.

"Yeah, I see it too!" Nami responds. "Let's check it out!" We ride over and the island comes into full view. But to our surprise, it's not made of clouds. It's an island made of solid earth, and large trees cover the entire thing. Weird…

"Look at the size of those trees!" Nami breathes. "I can't even see where they top off!"

"Pika…" I agree. My ears suddenly twitch; I hear something. It's soft but it sounds like voices. "Pikachu." I say, turning to Nami.

"I hear it too." Nami whispers. They sound pretty close by and it sounds like they're talking about treasure. Nami slowly revs up the waver and we gently cruise alongside the island, keeping an eye out for any movement. If these are treasure hunters, they could easily see us as thieves.

We turn a corner and something comes into view. Nami stops the waver and crouches down while I slide off the handle bars and peek over the side. Luckily, there are no people, just the remains of what looks like an old waver. "What a wreck…" Nami muses. She drives us over to the waver and we both board it, finding it completely empty with the exception of a tattered bag, an old water canteen, and big sea shell.

I go over to the objects and sniff them out, finding them to be empty and go over to the seashell. I pick it up and turn it around in my paws when my paw touches the tip, making it slide down. _"I'm positive the treasure's got to be here!"_ I yelp and nearly drop the shell. _"But I don't see anything!"_

Those are the same voices from earlier...did they come from this? I find a little hole on the shell and peek inside. I don't see anything, but how are those voices coming out of here?

"What have you got there?" Nami asks, coming over to me.

"Pika pika." I hold up the shell and press the tip. The voices come back, _"We need to keep a record of everything we find! The information may be valuable!"_

"Those are the same voices we heard…" Nami says, taking the shell from me. "This shell must be able to record voices." That makes sense. But why is it here? I leap onto Nami's shoulder as the voices continue, _"Forget this! I'm out of here! Can you feel that? That's God's anger!"_

Nami begins to pale as a strange noise emits from the shell along with the screams of the men, quickly followed by silence. That certainly didn't sound good. "Were they killed...by God?" Nami whispered.

"Pikachu…" I say softly. I glance around, keeping my instincts on point; I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this place…

We suddenly hear a noise from back the way we came. Nami slowly drives back, hugging the edge of the island until we see an opening in the trees where three figures stand. I can't really get a good look at them, but I think that's the least of our problems.

"What's going on?" Nami wonders.

My ears suddenly twitch as I hear something behind us. I slip off Nami and look behind us to see a familiar man with a mask, shield, and bazooka; that's the same guy who attacked us before! I tap Nami's leg and she slowly turns around just as the masked man takes aim. I get ready to take action as the weapon fires, but it goes towards the figures on the island, not us.

The area on the island is covered by a large explosion and only one figure comes out. It's a man and he's filthy and injured. He spots us and reaches towards us, "You down there! Help! Please, give me a ride!"

"A ride?" Nami asks nervously. "But...this is a one-person boat!"

"Please, I'm from another Sky Island! I just want to get out of here!" The man pleads.

"I can't, there's no room!" Nami says, obviously feeling bad that there's nothing she can really do.

"Give me the boat or I'll-" The man cuts himself off as his eyes look past us. "Guerilla!"

Nami and I look behind us to see the masked man taking aim at the man. I have a pretty good feeling he's not happy about people being here…

Suddenly, I shiver and my fur stands on end. Lightning? But...there aren't any storm clouds...can there even be lightning this high in the sky. My instincts draw me back towards the man as blue light suddenly begins to shine down on him from the sky. The light gets brighter and brighter and my fur continues to stand straight up. There's no mistake! That's-

There's a loud boom as an explosion of lightning obliterates the area the man just occupied. I grab onto Nami's leg and squeeze my eyes shut from the bright light. What kind of lightning is this?! I suddenly feel another pillar of lightning come down dangerously close behind us, nearly capsizing our waver. Nami screams and manages to steer us to safety and the light finally fades. Nami slumps in relief and the masked man glides away, leaving us soaked and terrified.

The spot of island is now completely gone, leaving surrounding areas in flames, even a tree that was caught in the blast is completely split in half and burned to almost nothing! That was the most powerful lightning I've ever seen!

"What...the hell...was that?" Nami breathes.

"Pika pika…" I say, still gripping Nami's leg.

We suddenly hear voices and Nami quickly presses our waver against the island. "Why did Eneru finish that man off himself?"

"We probably ran out of time; another group of intruders have already illegally entered Skypiea."

"Again?"

"Old Lady Amazon informed us of a boat carrying eight Blue Sea dwellers." Eight Blue Sea dwellers who entered illegally? Oh crap…

"Eight heads. That makes two for each of us."

I should've known that not paying that entrance fee would come back to bite us! And if that guy from earlier also entered here illegally and got hit with that giant pillar of lightning...then we're probably next on the list!

We wait for the voices to go away and Nami revs the waver into gear, taking us away from the island as fast as possible. "We've got to warn the others Pika-chan! And we need to get out of here as soon as possible!" she says.

"Pikachu!" I agree, taking my place at the helm of the waver. I just hope everything's okay back there…

We make it back to Angel Beach in record time, but it looks like trouble already found us, as usual. I can see the rest of our crew along with Conis, Paguya and Su, but there are a bunch of other people as well wearing official looking matching uniforms. Official looking guys wearing matching uniforms? I can already see the incoming fight.

"I really hope Luffy isn't pulling anything…" Nami says.

"Pikachu." _'You and me both.'_ I get up onto the edge of the front of the waver and cup my paws around my mouth. "PIKA PI!" I call out, catching everyone's attention.

"Hey! We're back!" Nami calls, trying to sound casual.

"Nami!" Usopp yells. "We need you to fork up 8 million berries from your stash to pay for all the fines we got!" 8 million? I thought our entrance fee was 8 billion… Maybe that's how much we owe in berries!

"Oh good! So we just pay the fine and we're clear!" Nami says. That's definitely a better fee than 8 billion! "Wait...did you say 8 million berries?" Uh-oh, gangway people!

I'm thrown back into the waver as Nami steps on the gas, clears the shore and nails the head soldier right in the face with the boat. "YOU'RE RIPPING US OFF!"

The soldier flies back and slams into the nearby pavilion while Nami skids to a halt on the sand. I did say 'gangway'. "Oh crap…" Nami says her eyes widening as she realizes what she just did. Yeah, safe to say, we're pretty screwed now.

I leap off the waver as Nami gives it back to Paguya. "Have a good ride?" Sanji asks me.

"Pika." I say with a nod; though I wish we had come back under better circumstances.

"Guys, we need to go, now." Nami says urgently.

"Don't you wanna finish the fight you started?" Luffy asks.

"Trust me, this Eneru guy is not to be messed with." Nami responds. Oh yeah, we've really gone in over our heads this time, and considering our track record, that's saying a lot.

"I assume that's another crime on our records." Zoro says, glancing at the unconscious soldier captain.

"Yes. Knocking out an official is a 5th degree crime." Paguya says worriedly.

"Well, I guess that could be worse." Usopp says. Look at you, thinking positive for a change!

"That's not good at all." Conis says as Su walks over to me, her snout drooping in worry. Conis explains that the penalty for a 5th degree crime is to be banished to the Land of the Drifting Clouds where they'll set us and our ship adrift on a small cloud to wander until we slowly die. That certainly doesn't sound pleasant.

"Perhaps that's why we saw that galleon fall from the sky." Robin says. "For all we know, the crew of that ship could have been punished over 200 years ago." My ears droop; for a place as bright active as Skypiea, it sure is morbid!

The rest of the soldiers then suddenly begin yelling at us for knocking out their boss. Nami steps up and tries to pass it off as an accident and then Paguya offers to take the captain to his house to patch him up. Thankfully, the soldiers comply, putting the captain on a stretcher and...crawling away? Okay then…

Before running after them, Conis tells us to take the opportunity to get away, which doesn't sound all that bad. I know we just got here, but our safety comes first. Nami tells the others what we saw on that island, but of course, Luffy just gets excited.

"This isn't something to get excited about!" Nami snaps. "Plus, if we stay here any longer, Conis and Paguya could get in trouble!"

"That's true. They could be seen as our accomplices!" Usopp agrees. Yeah, the last thing I want is to see Conis, Paguya, and Su get blamed for helping us.

We start to head to the ship, but Luffy doesn't move. "Why are we running away?" He asks, staring at Conis and Paguya's house.

"Because if we don't then Conis and Paguya will get arrested too!" Nami responds.

"But they haven't done anything." Luffy says. "They're stupid for wanting to arrest them."

"Pika pika…" I say. I'll agree that those guys are stupid but…

"Save yourselves!" We all turn to see the soldiers, along with Conis and Paguya, the captain already recovered from his injury.

"Be careful Miss; if you say anything to defend these criminals, I'll consider both you and your father accomplices." The captain says. Okay, these guys are really getting on my nerves!

My eyes narrow as one of the soldiers goes to hold Conis back; don't you dare touch her! Before I know what I'm doing, I unleash an electric attack on the soldier near Conis, making him fall over in paralysis. That won't do any real damage, I held back; we're already 5th degree criminals so what the heck?

"Pika-chan!" Nami exclaims in alarm. I can feel Sanji beaming at me with pride for defending a lady but now's not the time for praise.

I growl and step forward, sparks flying from my cheeks, "Pika pikachu!" _'Leave Conis and Paguya alone!'_

My growling dies down as the reaction from the soldiers is instantaneous. They're all staring at me in shock and horror; even Conis and Paguya seem completely at a loss for words.

"T-That creature...it shot lightning!" A soldier stutters.

"That's the same power as our Almighty Eneru!" Another agrees.

The soldiers begin muttering amongst themselves, probably wondering what I am. I catch words like 'pointed ears' and 'fangs', and 'Blue Sea' among their chatter.

The captain suddenly grins and steps forward, silencing his men, "Well, this changes everything." He says. "Not only are you pirates criminals for abusive language and deplorable violence, you are also guilty for bringing a demon to our sacred land!" Whoa, what? Demon?

"Bringing scum like this from the Blue Sea is an offense so great that we don't even have a law dictating a punishment; but that doesn't excuse you from the law." The captain stands firm. "Until further notice, you are now 2nd degree criminals. You will be judged by our almighty Eneru and his priests. However…" He looks directly at me.

"By the order of Almighty Eneru, this creature, the Blue Sea Demon, is to be put to death, effective immediately." His eyes narrow. "For the crime of threatening all that our Lord Eneru stands for, as a False God."

* * *

 **Dammit Pika-chan, you had ONE JOB! DON'T USE LIGHTNING ATTACKS! Can't even stay on Sky Island for a day without being accused as a Demon; geez XD This could really get messy...not because of the execution thing but because you KNOW how the Straw Hats get when one of their own is threatened. *sends up a quick prayer for White Berets***

 **BTW this was my literal first reaction when I saw Conis and Su:**

 **'This is Su, she's a Cloud Fox.'**

 **Me: Bitch please, that's a Pokémon!**

 **And for those who I'm sure are curious, I WAS TEMPTED to make Su a Pokémon, but it just didn't fit into Pika-chan's backstory or this story in general. HOWEVER, we can say that Cloud Foxes are distant relatives of Pokémon cause the similarities are ridiculous. We'll see. ...And I just realized that I have given SanjixConis shippers a ton of shipping fuel with both of them having a cute little friend...Oh boy...**

 **Sorry I have to leave you for a week or maybe more with this cliffhanger! Have fun! ;)**


	64. Upper Yard

**Real quick in response to that one reviewer I am ALL for having a PikaSu ship X3 Gender still doesn't matter when it comes to pairings so make this ship swing however you want ;)**

 **Now go any shippers out there! To your canvases and keyboards! See where the winds of shipping take you! XD**

 **Now on with the story!**

* * *

" _By the order of Almighty Eneru, this creature, the Blue Sea Demon, is to be put to death, effective immediately." His eyes narrow. "For the crime of threatening all that our Lord Eneru stands for, as a False God."_

Before I even realize what's happening, the White Berets all take formation and aim their weapons at me. I unconsciously take a step back; this can't be happening! I'm not a False God, I'm not even a demon! I didn't threaten anything!

"White Berets! Execute the Blue Sea Demon!" Head Soldier barks. "Open Fire!"

They fire their bows and arrows and I easily dodge them, but they're not just arrows. Their leaving behind a trail of clouds and their solid, staying in the air while the arrows fall into the water. I land on one of the cloud trails and dodge another wave of arrows.

"Attack!" My eyes widen as the White Berets all leap onto the cloud trails wearing strange skates and they zoom towards me at top speed, pulling out swords of their own. I yelp as I leap above them allowing them to pass me, but they quickly turn around and start their chase again.

I start to run but my paws just about sink into the cloud trail I'm on; it's so fluffy I can't run at full speed! And with how fast they're going, I can't charge up enough for another lightning attack! Guess I'll have to get physical! My tail becomes iron just as a soldier catches up to me and brings his blade down. I easily block it, but before I can retaliate, three other soldiers leap at me from behind, followed by the rest. I quickly charge up and electrocute the ones closest to me but I didn't have time to charge up a big enough blast to take out the rest!

All of a sudden I feel a rubbery hand grab me and I'm soaring through the air. "Gotcha!" I look up to see Luffy grinning and holding me securely as he stretches to a tree.

I sigh in relief when I feel Luffy's hand move to hold me by the scruff. "Hey Sanji!" Oh c'mon, really?!

I brace myself and I'm thrown through the air, shortly caught in midair by my partner. "We really need get him to stop that…" Sanji mutters.

"Pikachu…" _'You can say that again…'_

Two White Berets leap up towards us as we land, but Sanji easily kicks them away while Zoro takes any remaining ones nearby. Luffy leaps into the air and starts to spin, "Gum Gum...Firework!" He spins at top speed, his limbs flying everywhere and hitting every soldier away in an explosion of rubber punches and kicks.

Sanji lands and I leap out of his arms as I take in the fallen soldiers around us. Phew! Glad that's over! "Piece of cake." Zoro remarks.

"They weren't exactly prepared for a functioning execution." Sanji agrees before looking down at me. "You okay?"

"Pi." I nod.

"Why did they call Pika-chan a demon? Are they stupid or something?" Luffy asks.

"Most likely; but either way, we probably just shot up to 1st degree criminals."

"What? But it was self-defense!" Luffy protests.

"I doubt they'll care about that." Sanji responds.

"Nami! How's the money situation looking?" Zoro calls towards the ship, ignoring the spat.

"50 thousand berries left!" Nami responds. Seriously?! That's how much we have left?!

"Are we really that broke?" Zoro demands.

"Normally this would last us another day or two!" Nami responds.

"What's the deal? Why are we so poor?" Luffy demands; why don't _you_ answer that question, Captain? But now's probably a good time to get out of here. If these clowns think I'm a demon or False god, I don't want to know how the rest of the people here will react to me.

My ears twitch as I hear footsteps and soft laughter. We all turn around to see the Captain coming towards us, still standing tall despite his injuries. "Great, now what?" Sanji mutters.

The Captain says nothing and holds up a shell that looks similar to that recording one that Nami and I found in that boat. He presses the tip of the shell and a bright flash fills the area. We all cry out and shield our eyes; it's so bright I can't see a thing!

There's the shuffling of movement and the last thing I feel is something hitting me over the head.

* * *

The Straw Hats all cried out in alarm as they were nearly blinded. "I can't see!" Luffy screamed.

"You're not the only one!" Usopp shot back.

After a good few seconds, the light faded and everyone dared to open their eyes. "Geez...what was that?" Nami asked as she blinked.

"Do you think it was God?" Chopper asked fearfully.

"No." Zoro said, his voice sounding the slightest bit tight. "It was a diversion; those soldier guys are gone."

"Hahaha! That flash of light was all I needed to scare those cowards away!" Usopp declared.

"Really?!" Chopper squealed.

"No, _they_ caused the flash." Robin says. "And I doubt they would just run away like that."

Sanji shook his head and looked at the cloudy sand. At least those morons were gone now, though he never expected them to make such an exit, especially after the threat they made-

Sanji stopped his train of thought as realization slammed into him like a tidal wave. "No…" His eyes darted around as he took in the empty space around him. "No no no..."

"That was a Flash Dial; as the name suggests it produces a bright flash of light for a few seconds." Paguya explained.

Nami frowned, "But why would they-"

"No!" Nami was cut off as Sanji began looking around frantically, moving towards the trees. "Nonononono this can't be happening!"

"What's wrong?" Luffy asked.

Sanji faced them with a mixture of panic and anger written all over his face. "Those bastards...they took Pika-chan!"

"WHAT?!" Luffy, Chopper and Usopp screamed.

"They used that light as a diversion just to kidnap Pika-chan?" Nami demanded.

"Those jerks! That's cheap trick! I'm gonna kick all their asses even harder!" Luffy yelled.

"Pika-chan! Pika-chan, where are you?!" Chopper called, moving around frantically. "If you can hear us, say something!"

"What are we gonna do?! We have to get out of here but we can't leave Pika-chan!" Usopp exclaimed, holding his head in panic.

"Using a cheap tactic like that, they're even bigger cowards than I thought." Zoro growled.

"Those shitheads won't even be recognizable when I find them! If they so much as lay a hand on Pika-chan..." Sanji trailed off into a series of angry muttered swears, his fists tightly clenched.

"This course of action is definitely not what I expected." Robin said, looking thoughtful and keeping a level head as usual.

"What do you mean?" Nami asked.

"Captain McKinley ordered for Pikachu to be executed immediately; so why did they cause that diversion to take it away rather than kill it while its guard was down?" Robin pointed out.

"Don't say that, Robin!" Chopper cried. "Pika-chan can't be...dead!"

"If they did kill it, why did they bother taking the body?" Zoro added. "I doubt they'd want to give a False God a burial."

"Would you shut up?!" Sanji yelled, aiming a kick at the swordsman that he easily blocked. "Don't talk about Pika-chan's life so easily, you mosshead!"

Conis stepped forward, "Don't worry, your friend is alive." She said. "But...I'm afraid your friend is far from safe if the White Berets took it."

"Then tell us where they are." Luffy said simply. "Then we can beat them up and save Pika-chan!"

"It's far too late for that." Conis said, frowning in concern. "As we speak, the White Berets are most likely preparing to take your friend to Cloud End."

"Cloud End?" Nami asked.

"It's one of the only ways to get back to the Blue Sea World; since the White Berets believe your friend to be a Blue Sea Demon and they failed to execute it, they probably plan to banish your friend back to the Blue Sea World." Conis explained.

Sanji eyes narrowed, "Banish Pika-chan?" he asked.

"We don't know the details, but it will most likely be one of two ways." Paguya stepped in. "They will either send your friend adrift down on a cloud or…" He trailed off.

"Or what?" Zoro prompted.

Su whimpered and Paguya's gaze darkened, "Or they will simply throw your friend off the edge of the White White Sea, letting it fall back all the way to the Blue Sea."

Chopper and Usopp squeaked, Sanji paled, Nami covered her mouth with her hands in shock and Zoro's eyes narrowed. Robin and Luffy remained expressionless but their eyes said otherwise.

"If you want to save your friend, you'll have to sail East to Cloud End before the White Berets do." Conis said. "The way is quite dangerous, but I do know of a current that can take you there much faster."

"Really? So we can make it?" Usopp asked hopefully.

"Thank goodness!" Chopper sighed in relief.

Nami nodded, regaining her composure, "Alright, let's get the ship ready to set sail; we have to move now if we want to get to Cloud End before the White Berets." She said. "If we really push it, we'll be able to get Pika-chan back and safely get out of this place before we're caught. So let's move!"

"You're welcome to take any supplies you need; it's quite the journey." Paguya said.

Luffy lit up, "So we can have the leftovers from earlier?" He asked. "Of course." Paguya nodded.

"Yes! C'mon Sanji!" Luffy cheered and bolted back towards the house.

"Alright, but no goofing off, we have to get going!" Sanji responded, hurrying after Luffy.

"I don't suppose you could spare any tools to fix our ship." Usopp asked. "Just in case we run into trouble with this Eneru along the way?"

"What's mine is yours Usopp." Paguya answered.

"I'll be right there!" Conis called. Once they were a good distance away, Conis sighed and looked back at the ship.

"Su!" She turned and spied the little Cloud Fox moving towards the trees, leading to the city. She didn't call out and try to stop her, she didn't have the heart. They were already leading these good people into a trap; she couldn't bear to condemn that poor yellow Blue Sea Creature to Eneru's wrath.

Conis took a deep breath, put on a neutral expression and made her way towards the ship. As much as she didn't want to do this...she couldn't betray their Lord Eneru.

* * *

Ow...that hurt… I groan as I slowly start to open my eyes, ignoring the throbbing in my head. I feel something soft under me that feels like a kind of cloud. Did I fall asleep on the beach or something? Wait...the beach…!

I shoot up only to hit my head on something soft. I blink as I realize that I'm surrounded by white. I reach out and gingerly touch the white; they're definitely clouds and it's around me on all sides. Wait...did they put me in a cloud?

I move around in the limited space I have and feel every inch of my prison; yep, I'm in a cloud. A tiny cube made of clouds. Do they really think this can hold me? They don't even know what I am! I move to one of the walls and begin picking at it with my paws. Sure enough, I start to make a small hole and soon light emerges from the tiny hole.

I peek through to find myself in a room filled with White Berets. Great. Sneaking out of here is gonna be a pain. I look around the room through my peephole to the best of my ability but there's not much I can work with. There's a window, a table holding the blade weapons, and that's about it.

I could bust out of here and get out of here Luffy style, but these guys will probably chase me, along with anyone else standing by if word has already spread about me being a demon. I can't lead all that back to my friends, we'd totally be screwed! Maybe if I'm really careful I can sneak out the window.

I look back at the window when a small head peeks through. My eyes widen as I spy a familiar snout and light grey fur. It's Su! What's she doing here?

Su slinks through the window and easily makes it around the White Berets without making a sound. I see her pass by my peephole before I turn around to see the far wall of my prison start to move. I hurry over and start to dig until I meet Su on the other side.

"Pikachu!" I whisper gratefully.

"Su su!" Su responds softly. The fox points to the White Berets with one paw and then points to herself. She then waves her from paws imitating a crash or a loud noise and then points to me and the window. So she's gonna make a diversion while I take the opportunity to escape, got it! Wow, guess I've spent so long doing charades myself that I can tell what they mean right away. Nifty.

I give Su a thumbs up and she sneaks off. I go back into my cube and gaze through the peephole one more time before plugging it back up by spreading clouds back over it. I wait for a good few minutes until a giant crash is heard followed by yelling.

I peek out the back opening as the White Berets all clear out of the room. Now's my chance! I quickly run and jump onto the windowsill; luckily, it looks like I'm pretty close to the ground. I land and run behind the nearest object, peeking out to make sure I'm in the clear. I don't see anymore White Berets around so now's my chance!

I take off and get behind a building and go from there, occasionally switching between the ground and rooftops to stay out of sight. Unfortunately as I ran, I saw the White Berets going around and warning all the citizens about me and my crewmates.

Well, I guess this really isn't any different from back on the Blue Sea, with Marines and stuff. At least Marines don't see me as a False God. I jump down from one of the rooftops I'm on when I see a dock up ahead, with a multitude of cool looking boats parked there.

"So you're sure that Pika-chan's somewhere in this Upper Yard with Nami and the others?"

"Yeah, being dropped off Cloud End...I don't even want to think about what that's like…"

"You guys worry too much, Nami and the others have Zoro with them and Pika-chan's tough; they'll be fine!"

My eyes widen as I see Conis, Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp all walking along the harbor. I bolt out from my hiding place forgetting to be sneaky. "Pika pi!"

They all turn to me while the townspeople nearby all back away as I move past them. "Pika-chan!" Sanji exclaims happily.

"See? Told you!" Luffy says proudly.

I leap into Sanji's arms giving him a quick hug before moving to his shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Yeah! I thought you were halfway back to the Blue Sea by now!" Usopp agrees, giving me a pat.

I have no idea what they're talking about, but I smile anyway, "Pikachu!"

It's then that I realize that something's off. My friends are wearing different clothes, their bags are packed, and the rest of our crew is nowhere in sight. Where are Zoro, Nami, Chopper and Robin? "Pika pi?" I ask, looking around for any sign of them.

"You're wondering where the others are?" Sanji asks, receiving a nod from me.

"A giant crab took them and the Merry and now Eneru's holding them hostage!" Usopp explains in one frantic rush. "If we don't hurry, they're gonna be sacrificed!" My eyes nearly bug out of my head; first I'm accused as a False God and now our ship and half our crew are gonna be sacrifices for Eneru? How long was I passed out for to let all this happen?!

"We're gonna take a boat to the Upper Yard to save them." Sanji says. "Hopefully we'll make it in time."

"We will if we can take that boat!" Luffy says, pointing to a big one with a ox figure head.

"We can't, we're taking Conis' boat; just suck it up and deal with it." Sanji says sharply.

Oh yeah, Conis! I bet she sent Su to look for me! I look up to thank her but she's silent. She hasn't said a word since I came out here. My ears twitch as I pick up a sharp wave of anxiety as she wrings her hands together. Curious, I leap off Sanji and go over to her, the onlookers gasping as I get close. "Pikachu?" _'You okay?'_ I ask softly.

Conis spares me a small glance but the anxiety doesn't go away. Something's wrong...it feels like she's scared. I place a paw on her foot, a concerned expression on my face and Luffy steps up, "Are you okay?" He asks. "You look scared."

Conis visibly flinches, "Is it that noticeable?" She asks weakly.

"Isn't it obvious? She's worried about us!" Sanji says with a big smile. "That's so sweet of you Conis!" If I wasn't acting as a therapist right now, I'd give him a good shock.

"Speaking of being worried…" Usopp speaks up. "Are you and your father going to be okay? I mean everyone's avoiding us but you're leading us around and lending us your boat-"

"Su!" We all look as Su approaches us. Conis holds up her hands and Su stops a good distance away from us. I deflate in relief and give Su a small smile and wave; I'm glad she managed to get away from the White Berets.

"Go home Su!" Conis calls. "You've done enough; now go!" Su lets out a small whimper and reluctantly runs away.

Luffy watches Su go and looks down at me. "Pika-chan, did that fox help you?" He asks.

I give the smallest nod I can and Usopp's frown deepens, "As I was saying, won't you get in trouble for helping us?" He asks. "I mean Pika-chan is considered a demon here; won't you be seen as our accomplice?"

Conis is visibly shaking now, her fear off the charts. I move to two legs and touch her leg with both my paws, "Pika pika." I say worriedly.

"Don't you get it?" Conis asks, looking down at me. "Even though I told you how terrifying the Upper Yard is I still told you where to go; don't you find that odd?" My eyes harden and Conis bites her lip; I glance at the other citizens as they back away even more.

I suddenly step back as Conis falls to her knees, "Please, just run away…" She whimpers. I blink as tears drip onto my head. "I'm so sorry…" I move closer and touch her arm, not knowing what to say or do to comfort her. She's clearly terrified and overcome with guilt.

She confesses that she was the one who called the lobster to take the Merry and our crewmates away, and even lied about me being taken to Cloud End. That was just to get them onto the ship and raise anchor to signal the lobster. She had used my crewmates' worry for me and turned it against them, and now four of our friends are Eneru's hostages.

I want to feel mad, but I have a strong feeling that those White Berets had something to do with this. They were the ones who took me away; they probably threatened Conis and Paguya! That also could be why Su came to get me; Conis and Paguya couldn't do it without giving themselves away. And now Conis is telling us the truth; she clearly doesn't want to hurt us so I can't be mad!

"We must lead criminals to the Upper Yard!" Conis says. "If we don't the penalty is death!" My eyes narrow and I can feel Luffy's glare behind me. The rest of the sky people are begging her to keep quiet, to not bring his wrath down upon them. Whose wrath? Don't tell me-

"Wait, if they forced you to take us here...then why bother telling us?!" Luffy demands. My eyes widen; oh no…

"You idiot! Now your life's in danger too!" Luffy exclaims, running and kneeling in front of Conis behind me. The onlookers all back away muttering about judgement and all of a sudden, a shiver runs down my spine.

My ears twitch and my fur stands on end as a bright light appears above us. Oh no, no no no no!

I perk up and quickly use my back legs to give Luffy a sharp kick away from us. I have to hurry! Luffy flies back, just about slamming into Sanji and Usopp and I face Conis. I have to be careful not to hurt her. I focus the tiniest bit of energy into my tail and give it a smooth but sharp swing. My tail hits Conis in the middle, careful to avoid anything vital and she goes flying in the opposite direction just as the lightning above focuses above me.

Right when I look up, the beam is already heading towards me. I grit my teeth and raise my tail; I have no idea what's gonna happen, but it's not gonna be pleasant! The beam hits full force and I start absorbing. The force of the lightning presses down on me but I absorb as much as I can; I just have to hold out until it's over! It should only be a few minutes, I can do it! I just hope I got Conis away safely!

After what feels like forever the lightning finally ceases and I nearly collapse. I'm seeing spots, my body feels like it's made of iron lead and I feel like I'm about to explode from energy.

"Pika-chan! Conis! Where are you?!" I hear the muffled calls of Sanji in the distance.

"Pika-chan! Conis!" Usopp's voice joins in.

I blink the dots away as best I can to look around. I'm in a giant crater. Wow, guess all the pressure I felt wasn't just me. The clouds are steaming and warm from the lightning I didn't get. Guess I just absorbed enough to save myself, but it's still a ton! Through my blurry vision I manage to find the edge of the hole and begin to climb out. Thank goodness clouds are easy to climb. I haul myself out with a groan and collapse, breathing heavily.

"Pika-chan!" Sanji, Usopp and Luffy run over to me.

"Hey! You okay, buddy?" Usopp asks.

"Pi...Pika…" I manage to slur with a shake of my head as sparks fly freely from my cheeks.

Sanji feels my forehead, "Shit, you're burning up!" He exclaims. "You must be overloaded again!"

I look up at Sanji and force darkness away from my vision, "Pi...pikachu!" I exclaim as loud as possible, gesturing for them to get away.

"What is it?" Luffy asks.

I get up onto all fours, my cheeks still sparking; I have to release all this and get rid of this fever before I pass out! The last thing we need is for me to be borderline bedridden without Chopper here to get rid of the electricity for me! The sparks intensify as I begin to charge up; I'm really gonna have to stretch it if I want all this excess lightning gone.

Sanji, Usopp, and Luffy get the message and back away as thin streaks of lightning begin to surround me, and with a loud cry, I release a giant blast of blue lightning into the sky. Take your punishment back, God!

It lasts for a good few seconds before I feel my electricity balance out and fizzle back to normal. I sigh in relief as I sit down, taking deep breaths, my vision finally clearing. Sanji comes up to me and feels my forehead again while he feels his own with his other hand, "I'm no doctor, but I think your temperature is back to normal." He says. "You okay?"

"Pikachu." I chirp half-heartedly, giving a thumbs up. I'm not feverish, but I'm pretty exhausted.

Sanji picks me up and I notice all the villagers as I slump in his arms. They're still staring directly at me; guess my cover's blown. I can't tell if they're stunned, or terrified. Considering that they think I'm a demon or False God, I'm surprised they haven't started rioting. Maybe because I saved one of their own? I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think at this point I'll be safer once we get to the Upper Yard.

"Wait, where's Conis?" Luffy asks. I blink and look around but I don't see her. Don't tell me I didn't throw her far enough away!

"Do not fear!" A familiar voice calls. "Your friend is safe!" We look up to see Gan Fall the Sky Knight and Pierre flying above us, an unconscious Conis safely on the horse's back, unharmed.

Gan Fall looks at me, "That was very admirable of you, little one. Not many can survive a direct attack from Eneru, and no one would be willing to take judgement for another." He says. "In honor of your noble deed, I will not allow Eneru to harm this woman. You have my word."

"Thanks old man!" Luffy says.

"Pika." I say with a nod.

Gan Fall nods, still looking at me. "I do not know what you are, but now I am certain that you are no demon." He says before looking at my friends. "You Blue Sea folk are lucky to be blessed with such a powerful and noble creature; may luck be with you!" He calls and flies away.

We watch him go and Luffy nods, "Alright! Let's go save our friends!" He announces. We all get into Conis' boat, a tiny little thing called the Crow and we sail off towards the Upper Yard.

"I hope Conis will be alright," Usopp muses. "She's gonna have hell to pay if the White Berets catch her and it's all our stupid fault!"

Luffy shrugs, "That guy was old but he seemed like an okay guy."

"We have no choice; it's not like she'd be better off coming with us." Sanji agreed. Yeah, I trust the Sky Knight to take of her way better than we could. We're a giant trouble magnet, so she and Paguya and Su have way better survival odds sticking with Gan Fall.

We sail down a little hill and a giant forest comes into view. "Is that the Upper Yard?" Sanji asks.

"Pika…" I breathe.

"I don't remember this on the map!" Luffy says.

Usopp pulls it out, "No, there's supposed to be a forest here but I don't see anything about how big it is." Well that map is from a 200 year old ship, I wouldn't put too much faith in it.

"Hey! There's the entrance!" Luffy exclaims, pointing to two big torches.

"Well Usopp, if you want to chicken out, now's the time." Sanji says.

"Well I actually I was just thinking about going back-"

"Too late!" Luffy blurts out.

"Then why did you ask me?!"

"Pika pika…"

We pass the entrance and silence falls around us. My ears droop uneasily as I take in all the statues and torches around us. To say the place felt ominous was an understatement. I flinch ever so slightly as loud birds crow and we pass by wrecked ships. It's enough to get Usopp freaked out.

"Would you calm down?" Luffy says.

"Yeah, take it easy." Sanji adds. I'm not panicking, but I am not taking it easy in a place like this.

"Open your eyes!" Usopp cries. "Those ships weren't run aground, they were sliced in half!" Well thank Arceus that Zoro's not here or he would be running off looking for Mihawk.

Another loud rustling noise is heard. "Did you hear that?" Usopp whimpers.

"Pika…" I say worriedly.

"The forest is full of noises." Luffy reassures.

"I heard that." Sanji says quickly. Oh, _now_ you're on alert?! Sanji and Usopp start to paddle to help the boat move faster when a whooshing sound is heard. We all scream as a giant blade swings across the water, barely missing us.

"A Sickle Monster!" Luffy yells.

"Here comes another one!" Usopp yells.

"Not just one!" Sanji warns. My eyes widen as multiple blades swing towards us. Oh Arceus…

"PADDLE LIKE CRAZY!" Luffy yells. I jump on the chair and help Luffy steer while Sanji and Usopp paddle as we dodge left and right.

"What the hell is this?!" Sanji yells.

"Pika pika!" _'Who cares just keep paddling!'_

"Speed up! No, slow down! Watch out!" Usopp yells as the boat zigzags out of control.

"This isn't working!" Luffy yells, abruptly getting up. "Usopp take the wheel!" Luffy runs to the back of the boat and stretches his arms back. "Gum Gum...Bazooka!" The boat flies past the final blade and we land safely in the water.

But before I can sigh in relief we hear more gears turning. "Great, there's more?" Sanji asks. My ears twitch as more whooshing sounds can be heard. Sanji scoops me up just as a wooden spear pierces the spot where I just stood. I feel the blood drain from my face as I shiver in Sanji's grasp. Holy crap, that was close!

"Spears, are you kidding me?!" Usopp cries.

We start paddling again, and I hide under the chair as my crewmates shout frantically.

"Right!"

"No left!"

"Which way?!"

"Just dodge them!"

Sanji tries to deflect a few with his kicks but it does little good. I move to hide behind Usopp on the chair as Luffy twists himself. "Alright, Gum Gum...Pinwheel!" He starts spinning at top speed, knocking away all of the spears. I finally let myself deflate, peeking out from Usopp's shoulder.

"That was close…" Sanji breathes.

"I really hope that's the last of it." Usopp says fearfully.

"Pikachu…" _'You and me both...'_

Unfortunately, fate had other plans because after a few moments we see something glinting in the distance. Our eyes widen as a giant circular blade zooms towards us and barely misses us.

"It's coming back!" Usopp yells. Crap! Dodge, quick! The boat zigzags left and right.

"That's it! I'm going back; I don't care what you say!" Usopp yells.

"Oh no you're not!" Luffy growls, keeping Usopp from turning the wheel.

"Shut up! I'm captain of the Crow!"

"Since when?"

"Since now!"

Sanji grits his teeth, "Even if we turn around there's no guarantee that we'll survive the trip back!" he points out. Great, we're screwed!

The blade comes back around towards us. "Doesn't this thing ever quit?!" Usopp exclaims.

"Let's see how you like a little Gum Gum!" Luffy yells, readying his fist.

"Alright!"

"Get it Luffy!"

Yeah, Luffy'll show that thing!

"...I got nothing…" Oh come on!

The blade barely misses us yet again; we're completely at a loss here! None of the others can deflect that thing without losing a limb!

Alright, guess that means it's up to me! If I can take Zoro's swords then I can take this...right? I jump into the air when the blade comes back for another round. Please Arceus, don't slice off my tail…

I make my tail iron and concentrate hard; one slip and I'll be tailless for life! I spin and swing my tail as hard as I can, gritting my teeth and bracing for impact. Sparks fly as my tail as the blade collides and I see my chance. I maneuver my tail and direct the blade into the water with a splash.

I land back on the boat and let out a huge sigh of relief, wagging my tail around a bit to cool it off. It was a bit warm from the iron-to-iron contact, but at least it was still attached to me.

"Nice one Pika-chan." Sanji says, still a bit shell-shocked from the close call.

"Pika pi…" I say flatly with a wave, _'No problem guys...'_

This trip is definitely gonna be a rough one…

* * *

 **Soooo can we count that giant lightning blast as a Megavolt or does it actually have to hit something? *shrugs* Oh well, at least now we know that Pika-chan is capable of that move!**


	65. Ordeal

**Okay, I'm gonna address this now so I don't forget later.**

 **Some people have been getting on me about everyone calling Pika-chan an 'it', particularly the Straw Hats. Honestly, this isn't just because I'm not giving Pika-chan an official gender but mostly due to the anime of Pokémon. If you haven't noticed, EVERYONE calls any Pokémon an 'it' in the show. Even Ash calls his Pikachu an 'it'! Even Pokémon with telepathy! Like in 'Lucario and the Mystery of Mew'; even though Lucario CLEARLY had a male voice, they STILL called him an 'it'!**

 **Basically, unless the characters are EXPLICITLY told the gender of the Pokémon, they call them an 'it', so that's the case with Pika-chan. And I doubt the Straw Hats would care about Pika-chan's gender and even though they call Pika-chan an 'it' they still treat Pika-chan with the respect of a crewmate so don't think too hard on it.**

 **Okay, rant over. On with the chapter!**

* * *

I sigh as I lie on my stomach on the Crow's head. We've been sailing for a while now and the end isn't anywhere in sight. At least there are no more stupid traps to worry about, just sea monsters; those are familiar territory. I yawn as another sea snake lunges at the boat and Sanji kicks it away.

This God sure is annoying. Granted, I have no idea who or what _my_ God is or what it's like, but I highly doubt they're this intent on killing their subjects. That blast that tried to take out Conis was super intense, unlike any lightning I've ever felt. I'm guessing that this God uses electricity for attacks, like me, only a hundred times more powerful. If we have to fight this Eneru, maybe I could use his lightning to my advantage, though I don't know if I could handle such high power lightning multiple times in a row. I barely managed to hold onto all that lightning!

"Hey look! A giant head is blocking our way!" Luffy yells, pointing. I raise my head and sure enough, a stone head is sitting up ahead. "Looks like a dead end."

"No, look; there are four different entrances." Usopp points out. He's right; they all say different things. Ordeal of Swamp, Ordeal or Iron, Ordeal of String, and Ordeal of Spheres.

"You think we get to choose?" Luffy asks excitedly.

"Is it just me, or do none of these things sound like much of an ordeal?" Sanji comments.

"Pika." I reply, shaking my head. You are not alone there Sanji.

"I don't know guys…" Usopp says uneasily. "Which one should we choose?" That is actually a good question. As non-threatening as these things sound, these priests will probably make them deadly.

"How about...Spheres?" Luffy suggests.

"Why Spheres?" Usopp asks.

"Spheres are like balls right? Sounds fun!" Hardcore logic right there…

"Well, Sphere's does sound the least dangerous." Usopp says. I actually think so too, to be honest. Sanji and I have taken care of giant round rocks before so this shouldn't be any different (granted Sanji doesn't lose his shoes).

"I mean, swamps just makes me think of sinking, the kind you don't come back from." Usopp continues. Yeah, I can definitely see your train of thought there.

"What about iron?" Luffy asks.

"That one speaks for itself." Usopp says.

"What do you mean?" Luffy asks.

"You know what's made out of iron? Weights." Usopp says. "Iron is heavy and therefore, they can crush us!"

"Fine, what about string?" Luffy asks.

"That one doesn't sound too bad, but…" Usopp trails off. "They could dangle us over nothing; we are in the sky after all!"

"Pika?" I tilt my head putting a paw on my chin. That's not what I was thinking of…

"Oh? What do you think Pika-chan?" Usopp asks.

Well, I guess more like… I put my paws at my neck like I'm grasping a collar, gasping for breath before yanking one paw up and tilting my head to the side sharply, crossing my eyes and sticking my tongue out. Yeah, strangulation and/or hanging is what I think of when I think of a deadly test of strings.

Usopp pales dramatically and Sanji makes a face, "Geez, and you get mad at me when I talk about graphic stuff…" Oh don't you start with me, Mr. Psychopath!

"Now that I think about it, none of these sound safe…" Usopp whimpers. Well, spheres can be deadly too if they're big enough, I guess. "Maybe we should think this over."

"We don't have time for a debate." Sanji says.

"Alright, Spheres it is!" Luffy declares. Usopp gulps and steers us into the tunnel on the far right. I jump off the Crow's head as we enter, not wanting to be around the edge if we get attacked right away.

The tunnel is nearly pitch black and fear slowly starts to form in my stomach. I feel my way through the boat until I grip Sanji's pant leg.

"Hey guys, what if this like one of those games?" Luffy asks. "Like if you pick the right door you get a prize, but if you pick the wrong one…"

I grip Sanji with both my paws, my fear starting to grow.

"What?!" Usopp yells. "Why couldn't you have mentioned this before?! What if we picked wrong?!"

Oh man, I don't like this…

"Well, let's see…" Luffy thinks. "If you pick wrong...then you fall off the island!"

I climb up onto Sanji's lap and grip his shirt; I really don't like this…

"How could you say something so stupid!" Usopp demands. "We're thousands of miles in the air; I don't want to know how many times your life can flash before your eyes from that high!"

Okay, I really really _really_ don't like this!

"You guys are both being idiots…" Sanji sighs as light appears up ahead and we exit the tunnel. "Nothing like that is gonna-"

There's nothing below us.

I feel Sanji grab me and all I hear is our screaming and air rushing around us. Even though it was probably only a few seconds, it felt like we fell for an eternity when I feel everything jerk with gravity followed by a loud splash. We're back on the Milk Roads.

"We...we're alive…?" Sanji breathes.

"I seriously thought we were falling all the way back to the Blue Sea…" Usopp rasps, his face whiter than the clouds.

Sanji lets go of me but I still cling to his shirt like a terrified Meowth. That was the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced! "That's because someone made up a stupid story to scare us!" Sanji snaps, kicking Luffy in the head.

"I was scared too!" Luffy says between his laughs. "I thought we were goners!"

Sanji pries me off his shirt with a snap and places my petrified form on the ground. Geez, I need a moment to collect myself. I stiffly make my way back under the driver's chair where I crouch down and shiver. If anything else that shocking happens, I don't think I'll live!

Once we've all recovered from our near collective heart attack, Sanji takes the driver's seat and lights a cigarette. "So what is this place?" he asks.

"A forest," Luffy answers. "With balls."

Sure enough, there are giant balls made of island clouds floating everywhere. It's almost like we're in a giant snowglobe. We keep sailing up the roads but nothing happens. What's going on, I thought this was supposed to be an ordeal? Sanji tells us to stay sharp and I'm all aboard for that!

"Can we at least have a snack first?" Luffy asks.

"Yeah, what's in the bag Sanji?" Usopp agrees.

"No snacks." Sanji orders.

"But Sanjiiii, we need to keep our strength up!" Luffy whines.

"C'mon, just a little something?" Usopp tries.

"I said no!" Sanji snaps. "I'm going to keep driving, and you three keep watch out the sides, okay?"

I sit on top of the bag containing the food as Luffy and Usopp try to get something to eat anyway. I cross my arms and shake my head, smacking their hands away. Dad said no, you guys; get over it. Luffy and Usopp moan and start watching over the side.

"Pika-chan, I want you to stay hidden under the chair until we get out of here." Sanji says in a low voice.

"Chu?" I ask looking at him.

"Those White Beret bastards accused you of being a demon, so it's safe to say that those Priests have already caught wind of that." Sanji continues looking at me and glancing around for any threat. "I hate to say it, but you're most likely high on their hit list if this Eneru is willing to kill his own people for disobeying; so until we're out of their territory, you should make yourself scarce, no matter what happens in this Ordeal, understand?"

I stare at Sanji and contemplate his words. I really don't want to sit on the sidelines, especially if this ordeal involves a fight, but Sanji has a point. I'm probably the most wanted creature in Skypiea right now, being a False God or Blue Sea Demon or whatever. My friends could end up getting hurt protecting me, so I have to keep a low profile. I nod and make my way under the chair.

We continue sailing up a big hill and Luffy and Usopp start playing with one of the balls, gently tapping it back and forth like a big beach ball. "I thought I told you to keep watch!" Sanji snaps.

"Pika-chan! Pass!" Luffy exclaims and taps the ball towards me.

I sigh and poke my head out from under the chair. I raise my paw to tap it back, and hopefully away from us when the thing pops open. A small sea snake lunges towards me and I duck just as it lunges to bite my head off. Usopp screams and Luffy quickly kicks the snake ball away. I shiver as cold sweat begins to bead on my head; I think my nerves are just about shot.

"Sanji! Cloud Ball!" Usopp yells pointing in front of us. I squeal in terror and dart back under the driver's seat as Sanji raises his leg to kick it away. What follows is an explosion, burning my three friends and barely singing me.

"For crying out loud, what's with these things!?" Usopp wails. Okay, I want to get out of here as fast as possible!

My ears twitch as a strange laugh fills the air, "Silly children, these are surprise clouds!" I peek out from my spot to see a very round guy float down on one of those balls.

"Uh...is that a talking dumpling?" Sanji asks. That would probably be my first guess…

I stay in my hiding spot as Dumpling Guy keeps dancing and laughing on his sphere. Sanji tries to question him about Nami, Robin, Chopper, and Zoro but really doesn't get anywhere. A split second later he jumps off his sphere towards us and Luffy readies his fist. However, just when he throws it and stretches, Dumpling Guy moves out of the way with perfect timing. He holds his hand up to Luffy's face, there's a bang, and Luffy goes flying off the boat.

What happens next seems to go by in a blur; Sanji tries to attack but gets blown off the boat as well, quickly followed by Usopp. "Only the most well-trained are granted the power of Mantra!" Dumpling Guy says. "And these hits shock the body from the inside out! I guess you could say they are no ordinary hits! And now…"

I peek out just in time to see Dumpling Guy press down on the pedal to the boat. "Your boat will now speed along the Milky Road, eventually reaching the forest's only exit." I finally come out to see Dumpling Guy dancing on another one of his spheres. "You'll have to find your boat, because losing your way in here is deadly."

My eyes widen, _'Shit...'_ I'm stuck on the boat and Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp are stuck on the ground with Dumpling Guy! I make to dart out from my hiding spot but I stop myself. That Dumpling Guy is one of Eneru's priests! And with how easily he can dodge Luffy and Sanji's attacks, there's no way I'll stand a chance! And if he sees me, he'll either try to kill me or take me to Eneru, and I'm not a fan of either option.

I just have to have faith that my friends will win and find me. _'You guys better find me…'_

I wait a while until it's quiet and walk to the middle of the boat and glance around; it's definitely going to be difficult trying to find me in a place like this. There has to be a way to give them some sort of sign. An idea comes to my mind immediately and I jump back on the Crow's head. Sparks fly from my cheeks and I surround myself with lightning, making my body and the area around me light up brightly. I don't want to waste my energy or give myself away, so this will have to do for now.

I keep myself lit with lightning until I hear a familiar voice. "There they are!"

I stop and look up to see Usopp sitting on a tree branch. "Pika!" I cry happily, waving. He yells my location to Sanji who I'm guessing is on the ground and I eventually spot him climbing a tree near the current.

However a familiar laugh echoes through the air and I quickly hide just as Dumpling Guy kicks a cloud ball towards Sanji.

"Sanji! Look out!" Usopp yells.

I wait in fear as it hurtles towards Sanji who's completely helpless to stop it, when the ball hits two others and ricochets away from him. _'What the…?'_ My eyes suddenly widen as I realize that it's heading straight towards Usopp! _'No!'_

"Usopp!" Sanji yells. Usopp flies off the branch in an attempt to dodge but his nose touches the cloud. I squeeze my eyes shut and wait for the inevitable, but it never comes.

"What? It was a dud?" I hear Dumpling Guy say.

I open my eyes and see that a simple flower had popped out of the cloud; thank Arceus! I can only see Usopp fall as the boat and I float out of sight. I hope those guys can make it through…

* * *

I hate that I can only sit and watch while this goes on! If I didn't have a huge bull's-eye on my head I would be out there helping!

The others were doing their best to follow me, but Luffy went and screwed up. And by screwed up, I mean that he punched a bunch of those cloud balls and made them zoom all over the place! I winced and cringed as every cloud brought out a new surprise of danger, from spears, to crabs, to freaking birds who punch you!

Eventually, Usopp brought out a belt that shot a rope and grapple hook and wrapped it around a branch. I watched in anticipation as he swung towards me, but it turns out he forgot to make the belt release the rope. I smack my forehead and drag my paw down my face as he swings back and forth helplessly and Luffy just swings around like an idiot. The last thing I see before I float out of sight again is Sanji giving them some discipline. Maybe now they can actually focus on the fight.

I plop myself down onto the chair and wring my paws together, trying to ignore the distant sounds of my friends getting beaten up; stupid sensitive ears. The noises eventually grow silent, and I really hope that means I'm too far away to hear them.

After a while, I perk up; I can't just be sitting here, I've got to send out lightning so the others can find me when they beat that guy! I jump back up on the Crow's head and surround myself with lightning again and begin sending a few thin streaks of lightning into the sky. Hopefully this will give them a better indication of where I am. I make them thin but still visible, at least enough so I don't waste all my energy sending out signals. Maybe if I'm lucky, the others on the Merry will see them to and figure out we're coming for them.

A few minutes later a giant explosion rings through the air making me cut off my lightning abruptly and look back the way I came. What on earth had caused that? I know that some of those cloud balls had explosions in them, but Luffy must have made a million of them pop to make an explosion that loud!

I pull myself together and start sending out more lightning when I hear Usopp. "Heeeeey! Pika-chaaaaaan!"

I quickly turn and jump to the edge of the boat where I see Usopp on the forest floor. "Pika pika!" I cry giving a wave.

"Hold on buddy; I'm gonna get Luffy and Sanji and we'll be right up!" he yells.

"Pika!" I confirm with a nod; thank Arceus that ordeal was over! I knew they would be able to beat that weird Dumpling Guy! At least I don't have to worry about hiding anymore!

A few minutes later I hear Usopp yell out and a familiar rope and grappling hook shoots towards the boat. I quickly leap out of the way as it wraps around the Crow's neck. Luffy and Sanji are holding onto Usopp and the rope is pulling tight. Soon, the three are yanked into the air. I wince as they bounce off multiple trees before flying into the boat. I sweat drop when they flip into the boat, practically hanging off it. Something tells me they didn't think this through.

"That hurt…" Usopp moaned, his words slightly muffled by the water.

"I will never let you forget this…" Sanji mutters giving him a small kick.

"You know...I could've just stretched my arm and grabbed the boat." Luffy points out weakly.

"Look, we're on the boat and out of the forest, that's what matters…" Usopp says irritably.

I sigh and grab the back of Usopp's shirt, pulling his face out of the water. "Pika pikachu." I say, giving his arm a few friendly pats. _'Good to have you back on board.'_ I go up to Sanji and nudge his arm. _'You guys okay?'_

Sanji raises his hand and places it on my head, "Hey Pika-chan." he says tiredly. "We're fine."

Luffy lets out a sigh of relief, "Man, that was intense!"

I roll my eyes. "Pika pi." _'You can say that again...'_

Sanji moves himself so he can sit properly in the seat and we're on our way once again.

I sit on Sanji's lap for a majority of the ride, but after a while, Usopp and Luffy start to get bored. And apparently the way they decide to end their boredom is to make impressions.

"Do it again!" Usopp says happily.

"Okay okay, just don't make me laugh this time!" Luffy says. He crosses his arms and slumps over like he's asleep.

"Zoro, would you wake up already?" Usopp asks innocently.

Luffy gets up and holds his bangs up so his hair resembles Zoro's. "Huh? You're a dead man." He says gruffly before pretending to fall asleep again. Usopp laughs and I cover my mouth with my paws to keep my laughter hidden.

Sanji on the other hand, isn't enjoying the game, "This is no time for goofing off!" he snaps. "Nami and Robin are lost out there and for all we know they could be in trouble!"

"Pika…" _'Uh, Zoro and Chopper are there too...'_

"Zoro and Chopper are with them you know." Thank you Luffy.

"There are three more priests waiting in the wings," Sanji continues. "We may have more challenges ahead of us."

I look back at Usopp and Luffy and nearly burst out laughing as Luffy is doing his best Sanji impression. "Ordeal of Love." he says in a low voice and pretending to smoke a cigarette.

My face just about turns red from bottling in my laughter and a few snorts escape. Did Sanji really say that during the fight? That's priceless! Unfortunately, their comedy gets both of them swollen faces.

"Whatever the case, we've got to get to that altar, don't you think?" Sanji asks through grit teeth as he tries to light a cigarette to calm his nerves. His patience is just about shot; he even sends me a small warning glare to tell me not to mess with him. Yikes.

"Okay...we're sorry…" Luffy and Usopp manage through their swollen faces.

I lower my head and sit still on his lap, cowering slightly from the anger and impatience radiating off him; whatever you say, Dad.

We sail silently for a long while, the trees eventually creating a tunnel over us. After a while, the forest finally ends, leading us to a giant grassy field with Milk Roads crisscrossing all over the place. "What is this?" Luffy asks in amazement.

"My money is the next ordeal." Sanji says. "So you guys all stay awake."

"Oh c'mon; one ordeal is enough for one day!" Usopp moans. "Which one do you think is out here?"

"Relax, it's just a field." Luffy says with a shrug.

"Open your eyes! There are impaled skulls everywhere!" Usopp yells. "They've been set out here like trophies to scare us, and it's working!" I have to admit, this is pretty unsettling. But at least there are no balls full of explosives.

All of a sudden my ears twitch as a noise quickly comes our way. We all look to the side to see a small explosion. "I knew it! They're gonna hit us with Iron, Swamp, and Strings all at once!" Usopp yells.

"Well, that would certainly save time." Sanji comments. Okay, you are way too calm about this, especially after what you went through against Dumpling Guy! We watch as a group of tribal looking men soar over us. Sanji quickly pushes me behind him on the seat, keeping me concealed once again.

One of them raises his cannon as he passes and fires at us but Luffy easily inflates and deflects it. The men all vanish in the trees once again and we stay on alert, but they don't return. They stay on the tree branches, staring at us.

"You all reek of the Blue Sea." One guy, I'm assuming is the leader, says. "So you're the ones causing trouble on this island!"

"Luffy, that's the guy we saw from the White Sea." Sanji says. My ears perk up in recognition; that's right! This is the guy that Gan Fall saved us from!

"If you don't want to die, go back to your Blue Sea!" The guy orders. "Because if you do anything stupid here we'll execute you along with Eneru!" I perk up in confusion; these guys want Eneru dead? They're nothing like the people in the city who worship Eneru.

Luffy tries to goad him into a fight, Usopp holding him back all the while, but the men all move on, probably not wanting to waste their energy on us. "I wonder why they're up here?" Luffy wonders. Same here, man.

"I dunno, but they seem to be enemies of Eneru as well as us." Sanji says as I climb back onto Sanji's lap.

"I really hate this place…" Usopp whimpers. "And I think my Can't-go-into-this-jungle-disease is acting up!"

"I'm hungry!" Luffy whines, plopping onto the ground.

"How could you be hungry now?!" Usopp demands. "Alright, look, we just need to calm down!" You said it, not me. "I know; let's sing Sanji's song and everything will be fine!"

I immediately burst out laughing as Luffy and Usopp burst into a terrible rendition of the song. "Those aren't the words!" Sanji barks, making me laugh even harder.

* * *

 **I honestly couldn't think of any way Pika-chan could've made the fight with Satori any different sooooo... XP**

 **But don't worry, Pika-chan isn't gonna sit out on the NEXT fight! And you'll soon find out why *evil laughter***

 **I'll admit, I think the upper yard sequence has some of the best comedy with the facial expressions and what-not. Like the free-fall part, makes me laugh every time! XD**


	66. Campfire

As we float across the field, nothing else attacks us. I'm starting to think we're really in the clear this time.

"There's no way they'll let us leave so easily!" Usopp says, looking through his goggles. "We have zero, and I mean Zoro- wait, I mean Zolo, I mean zero chances of survival!" Usopp manages. "I wonder how Zoro's doing?" he adds.

I roll my eyes. "Pika." _'Probably lost.'_

Sanji starts laughing, giving me a pat. "Good one!"

I look up at him; another successful communication! I'm really starting to wonder what we have to do to make it so he can fully understand me. And I wonder if I could pull this off with the others, not just Sanji. So far it seems we've been able to communicate either when it was about Zoro or when the situation is dire. Huh. That certainly doesn't help much.

We sail on for a while, a long while, and at this point I really think that nothing's coming for us. My instincts are completely quiet and so is the forest around us.

"Sanjiiiiii, we've been sailing foreveeeeeeer!" Luffy whines. "Can we stop yet?"

"Soon." Sanji answers. "I just wanna make sure that field is far far behind us."

"Well since they've let us come this far, maybe they'll let us keep on moving." Usopp says, optimistically. Honestly, that would be great. I could use some non-threatening stuff for the rest of this ride, cause Arceus knows how it's gonna be when/if Eneru actually shows up.

We flinch as the boat suddenly dips down and starts picking up speed. "I knew it!" Usopp moans. "We're dead!"

I climb onto Sanji's shoulder and gaze at the path ahead and my face becomes a smile. It's a giant downwards spiral! It's almost like a water slide! I'm liking this already!

Luffy laughs, "Awesome! Dying is gonna be a blast!" I agree, I'd much rather die after a giant slide like this after everything we've endured in this forest; at least my last moments will have been fun.

"The point is to _not_ die!" Usopp retorts. I close my eyes and let the wind blow through my fur; this is the best ride ever and it's getting even faster.

Luffy and I laugh as water sprays us and we go even faster. "This is so fuuun!"

"Pikaaaa!"

"I don't feel so gooood!" Usopp yells, looking pretty dizzy.

The river suddenly zooms up and we hold on as we enter a loop before taking a sharp turn and heading downhill again. "These Milk Roads are a blast!" Luffy yells happily.

"Pika pika!" I say through my laughter. For all the dangers, Skypiea definitely wins the prize for best transportation! Luffy and I whine when the speed finally dies down.

"Awww, I wanted more!" Luffy moans.

"Chuuuu…" _'Me tooooo!'_

The road takes us above the trees and the sky has already turned red. "Do you think we'll be able to reach the altar before dark?" Usopp asks.

"No, I don't." Sanji answers.

"I didn't even know they had sunsets up here!" Luffy comments. Yeah, they're really pretty- wait a minute… I sniff the air, my ears twitching. I jump off Sanji's shoulder and stand on the side of the boat facing the sunset.

"Oh no, what is it now, Pika-chan?" Usopp asks fearfully. "Please don't tell me it's another priest!"

I sniff the air again and my suspicions are confirmed. That wasn't a sunset, or most of that wasn't a sunset...that was smoke and fire! "Pika, pikachu." I say pointing to the red sky.

Luffy tilts his head, "What?"

"Pika, pikachu." I repeat, still pointing.

"The sunset?" Luffy asks.

I nod, "Pika, pika pika pi."

Luffy frowns and tilts his head even more, "Uh...I don't get it…"

I sigh; I guess now I have more motivation for learning how to communicate better with the others.

Sanji looks at me, "What are you trying to say?" he asks.

I point to the sunset and then shake my head. Arceus, I officially hate charades...

"Sunset...no…" Sanji says slowly, understanding my gestures. "No sunset?"

I lean forward nodding. _'Keep going, you're close!'_

"No sunset…" Usopp repeats, putting a finger on his chin. "There's no sunset?" he asks.

I nod and gesture again. _'Keep going! You're almost there!'_

"If there's no sunset...then…" Usopp trails off.

I cringe in annoyance and point to my nose before pointing to the sunset.

"Nose?" Sanji tries.

I shake my head.

"Smell?"

I nod and point to the red sky again.

"You can smell the sunset?"

I nod again.

"Silly Pika-chan, you can't smell a sunset!" Luffy says with a grin.

I brighten and nod enthusiastically.

Usopp suddenly pounds his palm with his fist, "That's it, you can't smell a sunset!" he says.

"Huh?" Luffy's already lost.

"You said that you can't smell a sunset, but Pika-chan can smell this one!" Usopp clarifies.

Sanji then catches on, "So that's why you said it wasn't a sunset!"

"Pikachu!" I squeal, jumping happily. I think this is the first time a conversation between me and them has gone this well!

Usopp looks out at the red sky, "But... if it's not a sunset...what could it be that Pika-chan is smelling?" Okay, there's no way I'm gonna be able to communicate that. But they got the general message, so I'm happy.

Luckily there's nothing to worry about, because a while later, the sky starts to grow dark and the real sunset comes out. Don't worry, it was real, I couldn't smell it.

After a while, the boat starts climbing a big hill over a giant tree. Oh boy, I hope this leads where I think it does! "That's the biggest tree I've ever seen!" Luffy comments.

"Shut it will ya?" Usopp says. "My stomach's in knots and your yammering isn't helping!" We climb higher and the hill gets ever steeper. Oh man, I'm already excited! I don't even care if there's a monster or priest at the bottom!

"Do you feel that?" Usopp whimpers. "It feels like something bad's gonna happen when we get over that treetop!"

"Maybe." Sanji admits. "My money's on the rest of those priests." As we near the top, I jump onto the Crow's head; I want a front row seat to this one! "Careful, Pika-chan." Sanji warns.

We eventually reach the top and my grin widens in excitement as well as Luffy's. "Oh, I get it!" Luffy says. "You were sensing an incredibly unsafe drop off of this tree!"

I lie on my stomach and grip the Crow's head with all four of my paws; this was gonna be a fast one! Usopp screams while Luffy and I cheer and laugh with excitement. This was the best God test ever!

"Please don't tell me there's another corkscrew!" Usopp yells.

The bottom of the hill suddenly comes into view as the hill almost feels like a drop. But there's something down there too. "See that down there?" Sanji asks.

"Is it the priests?" Usopp asks fearfully.

"Uh...nope, just Sky Sharks." Sanji answers. Oh okay, we're good.

"Oh thank goodness- wait what?!" Usopp yells.

Luffy jumps onto the Crow's head behind me with a wide grin. "Alright Pika-chan! Let's go!"

"Pika pika!" _'Way ahead of you!'_ I say, sparks flying from my cheeks. This ride is definitely gonna end with a bang!

"Gum gum…"

I charge up my electricity.

"...Gatling!" I release my lightning, making it surround Luffy and hundreds of lightning fists rain down on the Sky Sharks. The boat lands with a giant splash, drenching all of us as the sharks land in the water making even more water spray us.

I barely manage to keep my grip on the Crow's head. That was probably the funnest ride I've ever had in my life! I wonder if there's a way to do it again…

Luffy, who's hanging on the Crow's neck, points ahead, "Look! There's the altar and the Merry!" We all look ahead, and sure enough, our little ship is sitting right on top of a huge stone altar.

My ears twitch and I look to the side. "Pika pikachu!" I exclaim, pointing. Standing on land is Zoro, Robin and Nami! That must mean that Chopper is on the ship! They're all safe! We all wave and cheer happily as we approach them. I jump up and down happily on the Crow's head, careful not to slip. Our crew is finally back together again!

Once we near the altar I leap off while Sanji takes the Crow to get the others across the water.

Chopper bolts down the stairs, "Pika-chaaaaan!" He cries, almost tackling me into the water with a hug. I manage to swing us in a circle so we both end up still on the stairs. "I was so worried! I thought those guys had thrown you all the way back to the Blue Sea! I'm so glad you're okay!" He babbles, nuzzling me with his tear stained face.

I see Nami slump in relief and a small smile grace Zoro and Robin's faces as they draw closer; guess they're glad that I'm here too. I guess I caused more worry than I thought.

Unfortunately, things weren't exactly peaceful for the Merry. While Nami, Zoro, and Robin went out to explore, one of the Priests attacked Chopper and the Merry, resulting in the mast being burned down as well as many parts of the ship. Thankfully, Chopper used the Sky Knight's whistle and Gan Fall came to save him, along with a bunch of giant South Birds.

The downside is that Gan Fall was really hurt during the battle as well as Pierre; guess even he can't stand up to those Priests without struggling like we did. Chopper's been treating him and Pierre ever since, but Gan Fall's still asleep. I can't help but feel grateful to him. Even though he gave us that whistle for free he's saved me, Chopper and Conis, willing to sacrifice his own safety for us.

We all decide to camp out on land instead of the ship for safety reasons and we all exchange what we went through. It turns out that those priests that Chopper and my team fought both use that Mantra thing, where they can predict their opponent's moves.

But the real interesting part was that Nami's team discovered that this Upper Yard is actually a missing piece of Jaya. The city of gold that Noland described didn't sink, it was shot into the sky by a Knock Up Stream.

"Finally! An adventure with gold at the end!" Luffy says happily.

"Glad to see someone's on my side." Nami says with a grin.

"But...do you remember what those guerilla's said about execution?" Usopp asks weakly.

"God will be really mad!" Chopper agrees.

"Please; don't forget, we have a 'demon' who can absorb this God's attacks." Sanji says putting a hand on my head.

"Pikachu!" I say proudly.

"It won't be easy, since everyone up here already hates us for bringing a False God." Zoro says grinning. "I'm in."

Welp, guess we're going gold hunting!

* * *

Once we're done talking, Sanji starts preparing dinner, getting out a giant stew pot and preparing the meat and vegetables. I roll my eyes as he cuts two heart shapes out of the carrot slices and slips them into the pot while I peel the potatoes.

Zoro and Chopper come back from scavenging with garlic, a bunch of different herbs and dead rats and frogs. Chopper takes a handful of the herbs to make burn ointment for Gan Fall and the rest goes in the pot. Robin even finds a giant salt crystal so we even have seasoning.

Once the food is passed out, Nami starts discussing where exactly this city of gold could be.

"I still can't believe that this forest we're sitting in is that same one from Jaya." Zoro muses. You can say that again; the trees on Jaya weren't even a third as big as these trees.

"It must have something to do with the composition of the island clouds." Robin says.

"Maybe that's why the South Birds that saved us were so huge!" Chopper adds.

"Why did they help you guys, anyway?" Sanji asks as I hand Zoro his soup bowl and Sanji gives me my own.

"Um…" Chopper fidgets. "Well...when they saved us...they referred to the Sky Knight as God." ...Excuse me?

"He's God?!" Luffy exclaims. "So we just have to beat the crap out of this guy and our job here is done?!"

"No genius!" Usopp snaps after Pierre squawks in alarm. Yeah, I think that priest did a pretty bang-up job himself in beating him up.

"Would you two pipe down?!" Nami demands. "Now, does anyone remember what Noland wrote about the city of gold?" Uh, why are you asking us? Don't you know? This isn't a classroom…

"I do!" Luffy says, raising his hand. "It's a city of gold!" I stand corrected…

"You're such a dumbass do you ever think before you speak?!" Usopp retorts.

"Well, I think I remember him talking about South Birds and a giant gold bell." Sanji speaks up.

"It was definitely something odd." Robin agrees. "The last thing he wrote was the city of gold was in the skull's right eye."

"That's it." Nami confirms. Oh good, someone knew the answer; is all this stuff gonna be on the test?

"Look, I matched up Robin's map of Jaya with the old Skypiea map." Nami says, bringing both maps out and we all gather around her. "If we match up the location of Cricket's house with the broken part we found...this is what Jaya looked like 200 years ago!" Nami folds the maps and places them together, making the entire island look like a skull. And the gold is in the skull's right eye! The skull on the map! It all fits!

"I'm thinking the city is right here." Nami says pointing to a small building, "It's the only structure here; and no one's found it yet because we're the only ones who have both maps!"

"Wow...we must be lucky pirates…" Usopp breathes.

"HIDDEN TREASURE!" Luffy cheers.

"Treasure!" Chopper chimes in.

Damn, I never thought our luck would turn around this drastically! We're on the trail of a whole freaking city of gold! This makes all the flaming hoops in space worth the risk!

We decide to split into two teams tomorrow when the time comes since we can't leave the Merry behind. Alright! Tomorrow, we're off to get us some gold!

* * *

We finish eating and we start cleaning up. Nami, Chopper and I gather up the dishes and Sanji and Zoro go to get more firewood.

"Think it will be sunny again?" Luffy asks.

"We're above the clouds, so I'd guess yes." Usopp answers.

"Let's put out the fire if we're not using it." Robin says. "We don't want to announce our location to our enemies."

Luffy smiles knowingly and chuckles, "What a rookie move." He says cooly. "She wants us to put out the fire Usopp, what are we gonna do?"

"I don't know." Usopp says just as slyly. "It's not really her fault, she's not used to this kind of living."

"What are you saying?" Robin asks.

Luffy and Usopp turn to her and fall to their knees, "You're always supposed to have a campfire when you camp; that's what makes it camping!" Luffy whines.

"After fighting through all this wilderness, it's the only thing that reminds us that we're alive!" Usopp moans.

My ears droop and I groan while a vein pops on Nami's head. Honestly, I can't believe I've managed to live with these guys for as long as I have.

"Lay off the sob stories! You know how dangerous this island can be, so let's not give it any help with killing us!" Nami snaps.

"Don't care!" Luffy responds sharply.

"We're in the middle of a war between priests protecting their god and guerillas staging a coup! Not to mention the bloodthirsty monsters and the fact that we're also considered enemies by the Sky Islanders because they think one of our crewmates is some kind of demon!" Nami rants. You should save your breath Nami, I think it's going right over his head as usual.

"Luffy, is this enough wood?" We turn to see Zoro and Sanji, having arrived with a giant pile of wood. I swear, these freaking humans are birds of a feather at the weirdest times!

"Can you idiots think for one second?!" Nami explodes.

"Relax Nami, animals are afraid of fire!" Sanji reassures lightly, holding up a lit torch. Just then my ears twitch and I make out several dark figures with glowing eyes all around us. Great…

A low growl fills the air and a big white wolf emerges next to Sanji. It begins growling and snarling, but makes no move to attack. "Hey Chopper, I think it's trying to talk; mind translating?" Sanji asks.

Chopper goes over to the wolf and begins to translate. "You jerks are being so loud we can't even hunt! Why don't you dumbass humans go to hell and sleep already?!" The wolf demands.

"Who's a dumbass?!" Luffy and Sanji demand, hovering over Chopper.

"I didn't say it, he did!" Chopper protests, pointing to the wolf.

"You rotten two-leggers better not be trying to muscle in and take what doesn't belong to you!" The wolf continues.

"No, it's not like that, we were taken here against our will!" Chopper tries to reason with him.

"This is our forest! You think you can just barge in here and start fires?!" The wolf snaps.

"Sorry…" Chopper whimpers.

"Everything here belongs to us; the land the trees, even the air!"

 _Bonk!_

The wolf is suddenly cut off as Nami pops him right on the head. Uh Nami, I think that was their leader… "No one's getting in the way of that treasure." she growls. Yeah, that's great and all, but now we have a whole pack pissed at us.

"Great, now we get eaten by wolves!" Usopp moans.

"Do something!" Nami urges.

"What can I do?!" Usopp asks desperately.

"Pika pika pi!" _'You started it Nami, **you** do something!'_

The head wolf suddenly barks and the rest of the wolves back away. "Stand down boys; we may have the numbers but they have the raw power; it's not worth it." He says. He then turns to Nami. "Girl, you pack one mean punch; I gotta say, you're my kind of angry."

I sweatdrop as the two give each other a meaningful look. I can't tell if that tone was respectful or flirtatious.

"So that's how happy endings look." Usopp muses.

"Guess so." Zoro agrees.

"Pika." I nod.

"Then I have an idea!" Luffy says happily. "CAMPFIRE!"

Before I know it, the bonfire is lit and we're all dancing around the fire glow. Nami and Zoro are drinking, and Robin seems fine with just watching. Usopp calls it 'The Festival of the Night before Gold Hunting'. I have to admit, it has a nice ring to it.

Chopper and I were paw in paw, prancing around with the other wolves along with Luffy and Sanji. Sometimes Chopper and I would jump onto one of the wolves' heads and ride around before jumping off and dancing again.

"Tomorrow the treasure's ours!" Luffy yells. We cheered and howled with the wolves.

"Aye, treasure!" Chopper yells.

"Tomorrow!" Sanji chimes in.

"Pika pika!"

As we danced, we noticed that Sky Knight had finally woken up. Luffy and Chopper loudly thanked him for everything he did for us and he even told us that Conis and her father were safe; they were hidden in his house. Sanji and Usopp were really relieved and I was too. I could rest much easier knowing that Conis and her father weren't being hunted by God.

"Now, let's celebrate by tossing Chopper and Pika-chan!" Usopp suddenly announces.

"Pika?"

"Why us?" Chopper asks.

Usopp picks up Chopper and Sanji picks me up and we're flying through the air. I squeal as I'm tossed over and over and Sanji laughs as he catches me before tossing me up once again.

After a while, Sanji tosses me especially high and he catches me, but not without stumbling and falling over backwards, me landing on his chest. We both laugh while Usopp swings Chopper in a circle.

"Sanji! Switch!" Usopp yells tossing Chopper towards him.

Sanji barely manages to get up and toss me to Usopp before barely catching Chopper. I laugh as Usopp starts tossing me as well and Sanji starts spinning Chopper.

For a while, I completely forgot where we were, and that a God may be able to smite us down at any second. It felt like we didn't have a care or worry in the world. This is why I've been staying with them all this time; despite their flaws, they're probably the greatest humans in the world.

At this moment, I don't care that I've forgotten everything about my past and where I've come from.

Right here, right now, _this_ is my family...and I love them with all my heart and soul.

The night feels like it will never end as we all howl at the moon and and sing at the top of our lungs.

 **'We may not be related, but the bonds we've created are strong enough to call family!**

 **When other tides have faded, we will still be here!**

 **We're more than friends, we are family!'**

* * *

 **Yay! Good for you Pika-chan, you finally found a family! And it only took you 66 chapters to figure it out XD**

 **As fun as it is writing Pika-chan as a sarcastic little shit, it feels good when I write genuine emotion from it X3**

 **Enjoy this peace while you can cause as you all know, shit's gonna start hitting the fan next chapter!**


	67. Eneru

**Oh boy this is it! Time to jumpstart this arc! Let's do this!**

* * *

I don't remember when we exactly fell asleep, but I woke up nestled in Sanji's arms. We all woke up, ate breakfast and bid farewell to the wolves, but we were in for a big surprise.

"The Going Merry...it's been repaired!" Everyone exclaims.

"Pika?!" Sure enough, the whole ship looks good as new! Sure, the repairs weren't expertly done, but it looked way better than it did last night and she looks ready to sail. Even the whole mast is fixed!

"I knew I wasn't dreaming!" Usopp exclaims. "I knew I saw ghost here last night!" A ghost? Why would a ghost repair our ship? And how would they?

"Now this is what I call service!" Nami exclaims happily.

"You can say that again." Robin agrees. "Can you imagine what a challenge it must have been to stand this thing upright?"

"I hate to say it, but they did a lousy job." Sanji comments. Yeah, but hey, at least now we can sail.

"Well, whoever did this sure is nice!" Luffy says.

"But who would risk crossing a river of sky sharks just to fix our ship?" Zoro asks. "As far as we know, the only ones here are us and our enemies."

"Hey, did you notice they took the flying gear off?" Luffy asks. Oh yeah, that's right! Merry's wings are gone and so is her chicken crest and tail. "Yeah, how did this phantom repair man know what the Merry's supposed to look like?" Usopp agrees.

I honestly have no idea. Usopp said he saw a ghost, and though he's a big liar, we can tell when he's lying or not (except Chopper). I frown slightly as I feel something faint on the deck. I don't know if it's a feeling or what. I leap up onto the Merry's head and look down at her face; who fixed you Merry?

"I still say he just had a nightmare…" Zoro mutters.

Nami shrugs, "Whatever, we have a lot of work to do."

"But Nami, aren't you just a little curious about who fixed our ship?" Chopper asks.

"Who cares; if he wrecked it, it'd be one thing, but it's fixed so it doesn't matter." Nami says.

We decide to not pay it any mind for now and focus on getting the ship off the altar so we can get going. Usopp and Chopper get into the Crow and Usopp uses his belt to wrap the rope around Merry's neck. They drive the boat full speed ahead, but as to be expected, the Merry is too big for the Crow to handle, making the poor boat snap apart like a toothpick.

Luckily, Usopp has another idea, "This river is full of Sky Sharks right?" he says as he attaches the end of the rope to a wooden pole. "So why don't we use their power?"

"That's a great idea!" Chopper cheers.

"That's the spirit; cause I've got a special job for you." Usopp says as he approaches Chopper with the pole.

A few moments later, I'm dragging my paw down my face as Usopp dangles Chopper over the water, the poor reindeer screaming at the top of his lungs, "No! No! I don't want to be bait! I don't want to get eaten!" We really need to give that poor thing a lesson on spotting stupid ideas.

Thankfully, the plan works without Chopper getting eaten, but I think he may now be susceptible to heart attacks at his young age. "Alright, let's look at the map." Nami says, pulling it out. "The exploration team will head south; there should be some ruins near the skull's right eye." She says. "Watch out for enemies and bring back that gold!"

"You keep talking about getting all this gold but you're not coming?" Luffy asks.

"Of course not, it's way too scary!" Nami says. My ears droop; of course it is...

"She wants the gold but doesn't want to risk anything to get it?" Chopper whispers to me. "That's too weird!"

"Pikachu…" _'I know buddy, I know…'_

"Is there something you two would like to share?" Nami asks us sharply. We snap to attention and shake our heads; man this girl can sense anything if it's about her!

"Besides, we'll be in danger too." Nami goes on. "We'll be taking the Merry downriver through the island; we'll head for the beach as fast as possible where we'll meet up and escape this stupid Sky Island."

Well, at least we have an escape plan; I'm guessing it involves that Cloud End that Conis told them about.

We all wish each other luck and we split off into our separate teams. Luffy, Zoro, Chopper and Robin head south, while Nami, Usopp, Sanji and I (along with Pierre and Gan Fall) set sail on the Merry. We position the Crow behind us, using it's dial power to push us forward.

I sit on the Merry's front railing, watching the jungle as Gan Fall sits against the upper railing behind me; he's looking a lot better, thankfully, and so is Pierre. "Well, you're certainly looking better old man." Usopp comments.

Gan Fall nods, "I'm very grateful to you all." he says.

Usopp shakes his head, "If anyone deserves thanks it's our doctor; when it comes to medicine, Chopper is a real miracle worker."

"Pikachu!" I chip. _'You can say that again!'_

"But then again, you saved Chopper from that priest, so I guess you're even." Usopp adds.

Gan Fall is silent for a good long moment, "Shall I tell you about this island's history?" He asks. Uh, I think Robin would be a better person to talk to for that, but sure, go ahead.

"Up until six years ago...I was God." ...Uh, okay?

"Did you hit your head old man?" Usopp asks and I cringe as Pierre gives him a sharp bite on the head in his horse form.

I sit near Gan Fall and he continues. 400 years ago, Skypiea was very peaceful, and things from the Blue Sea were considered very rare and valuable. Little things like stuffed animals, instruments, and trinkets would occasionally get caught in the Knock-Up Stream and wash up on the shores of Skypiea. Even soil (which they call verth) is treated like treasure.

But then, the Upper Yard appeared, and to the Sky People, a piece of verth that large was a miracle. They worshiped it as holy ground, a gift from Heaven. They wanted to claim it, but the people that lived on that part of Jaya had been taken up with the Knock Up Stream as well. This caused a war to break out between the Sky People and the original inhabitants of the Upper Yard, the guerillas who are called the Shandorians.

"Wait a minute, does that mean you just went and stole the land that was rightfully theirs?" Nami asks.

"It does." Gan Fall answers. Geez, no wonder these guerillas are showing no mercy; they just want their home to be left alone in peace! And because the Sky People were so greedy, this war has been going on for 400 years? That's insane!

"How sad; so many lives lost…" Nami muses.

"Wait a second, doesn't that make you the bad guy?!" Sanji and Usopp demand, both of them receiving another bite from Pierre.

"I'm sorry, but it does." Gan Fall answers, making Pierre release the boys.

"What about Eneru?" Nami asks. "What's his story."

Gan Fall tenses and his eyes become narrowed and hard. Apparently, Eneru appeared from another Sky Island along with a large group of warriors (including his priests I imagine) six years ago. Back when Gan Fall was still considered God, Eneru attacked his divine squad and they seized control of the Upper Yard, enslaving Gan Fall's Divine Squad to do some mysterious labor. "The Shandorians don't care who God is; they just want to return to their home like they always wanted." Gan Fall says.

"Wait, if these Shandorians are so obsessed with getting their home back, why did they attack us the minute we got here?" Sanji asks.

"The Divine Squad sometimes steal a ship in the hopes to make it to the Blue Sea and escape Eneru." Gan Fall answers. "The Shandorians still consider the Divine Squad enemies and will attack any on sight; he must've mistook you for them."

"That guy also really gave Pika-chan a good beating." Usopp adds. "Do the Shandorians think Pika-chan is a demon as well?"

"No, they most likely saw your friend as a follower of Eneru, since electricity is often associated with him." Gan Fall answers.

My ears twitch as I remember what the guy said as he fought me. _'Even the White Sea isn't safe from your anarchy!'_ Man, everyone up here wants my blood; I'll definitely be able to sleep much better once we get that gold and get out of here.

"You know the way you talk, this Eneru sounds more and more like the Devil himself." Sanji remarks.

"Shut up shut up shut up!" Usopp snaps, smacking Sanji's arm. "For all we know he could watching us right now and taking notes!"

"Don't tell me you've already become a convert." Sanji sighs. I think he became one the second he realized this whole place is run by a blood-hungry God.

"The Devil himself? No." Gan Fall says. "But he comes very close. He has decreed all outsiders to be outlaws, and he has made the people of Skypiea responsible for leading them to judgement."

Gan Fall explains how the Sky People are very easily overcome by guilt when they believe they're doing something wrong, and how Eneru exploits this to get them to lead Blue Sea people to their deaths. No wonder Conis was so upset when she told us the truth! She knew she had to do what Eneru said, but she also knew it was wrong to lead us to the Upper Yard! The decision must've been tearing her apart inside!

"Man, of all the places this city of gold happened to be...just our luck." Nami sighs.

"Oh that reminds me," Gan Fall says. "What exactly is gold?" My ears droop and we all sweat-drop, "Uhhh…"

One awkward explanation later, Usopp steps up, "Hey, I got a question old man." He says. "You said the Shandorians attacked us because they thought we were this Divine Squad or whatever; but you knew that we weren't, so why protect us?" That's actually a good question.

"I protected you because you are unfamiliar with Sky Warfare." Gan Fall answers.

"Sky Warfare?" Usopp asks.

"Pika?" I tilt my head.

"I'll show you." Gan Fall says. "Move that barrel over here and place this dial on top." We do as he's told and he tells us to get out the biggest weapon we have, so we settle with Usopp's giant hammer. "Now young man, hit the shell with all of your might." Gan Fall says to Sanji.

"Take it easy Sanji." Usopp warns. "You put a whole in the deck and I'll put more holes in you than swiss cheese!" Yeah, I'd like to see you back _that_ claim up.

Sanji winds up and swings the hammer down. I tilt my head as the impact just...doesn't happen. It's like something invisible stopped the hammer from fully hitting the barrel.

"Wow, that was just sad." Usopp says. "I know I said to take it easy but that was pathetic."

Sanji shakes his head, "No, I gave that swing everything I had, like I was trying to put a hole in the deck." He says, ignoring Usopp's frown. "It's like...the shell absorbed the impact."

Sky Knight nods, "Now place that shell on the side of the barrel and push the top." he instructs.

Sanji picks up the shell and crouches down, doing just that. I walk between him and the shell as he positions it on the side. "So now what-"

I reach up and press the tip of the shell without waiting for him to finish. There's a giant explosion of air and the barrel shatters, blowing me into Sanji's chest and Sanji back against the railing.

"That is an Impact Dial; it absorbs the force of any object and releases the energy when it's pressed." Gan Fall explains. "It's usually strapped to the palm with a glove or bandage, and has enough energy to kill an average person easily."

"...I see." Sanji says with a knowing frown. My ears perk up; that's right! Dumpling Guy sent Luffy, Sanji and Usopp flying off the boat by just tapping them with his hand, and he was wearing gloves! He must've had one of these dials on both his hands!

Gan Fall goes on to explain that there's apparently another dial called a Reject Dial which works the same as an Impact Dial, but ten times more powerful. But the downside is that is also damages the user, so people barely use it.

"These little shells are that dangerous?" Usopp asks.

"But I thought they were just normal everyday objects." Nami says.

"They are; but they can easily be used for dangerous events." Gan Fall says. "For example, someone could take a Heat Dial for boiling water and place it inside a weapon making it scorching hot, or take a Flame Dial which produces flames inside the mouth of an animal and make it breathe fire."

Or they could take a dial used for making light and use it to blind their enemies so they can get away with almost anything. I frown as I remember when the White Beret's kidnapped me.

"Then is all that stuff about Mantra true as well?" Sanji asks.

"Yes; it is described as the ability to hear." Gan Fall says. "The idea is that the body of every living thing has it's own voice, and with practice you can hear these voices over a large area and tell your opponent's next move." He goes on saying that the Mantra ability of the priests stretches across the whole Upper Yard while Eneru's abilities can reach far beyond the Upper Yard and Skypiea.

Maybe it's kinda like how my instincts work; I can sometimes tell if someone's there because I can pick up their presence even if they don't make a noise. My ears suddenly twitch; speaking of which…

Gan Fall suddenly pales and Pierre squawks frantically, looking past us. I turn around and flich to see a tall figure sitting on the Merry's head. Nami squeaks and Usopp lets out a scream while Sanji gets on alert. I get on all fours and growl, sparks flying from my cheeks. I try not to flinch as the man slowly turns to look at me,

"So...you must be the Blue Sea Demon." The man says, holding up a finger and causing blue sparks to surround it. Electricity...and judging by his appearance...this guy must be Eneru. My growling grows louder but it only seems to amuse Eneru. He raises his finger and shoots a small beam of blue lightning at me.

I raise my tail out of instinct and absorb it easily. I blink; that little bolt carried a lot more than I thought. Eneru stares at me, his eyes taunting me and I frown.

Usopp catches on to what I'm thinking. "Pika-chan don't-"

I release the bolt I absorbed, shooting a good amount of blue lightning back towards Eneru. To my horror, he simply vanishes in a flash of light and moves to the side, avoiding my attack. Why didn't he absorb it? Is he just playing with me?

"Look pal, what do you want?" Sanji demands.

Eneru doesn't answer and grins, making me feel super uneasy. He suddenly vanishes once again in a flash of light. "What? Where is he?" Nami asks.

"He just vanished...like lightning!" Usopp exclaims.

Lightning…? My fur suddenly stands on end and my eyes widen. "Pika…!" On pure instinct, I raise my tail as blue lightning swerves and strikes me.

"Pika-chan!" Sanji yells. I immediately begin absorbing the electricity. It's definitely different from normal lightning, it's pulsating, almost like...it's alive...oh no...My eyes fly open and try to release the electricity, but it's too late. I can feel the lightning spread throughout my body, wrapping around and clutching me like long thin snakes.

"Yes...this will do quite nicely…" No way...that's Eneru! He's in my head! "This game just got much more interesting."

"Pi...pika pi!" I yell. _'No...get out...get out of my head!'_ I grab my head with both front paws as the lightning begins to settle in; I can feel my vision blurring and my body is losing its feeling.

"Just relax…" Eneru purrs. "Lightning is your essence; just let it flow through you."

I let out a scream as my vision goes dark, feeling like something just yanked me out of my consciousness.

I open my eyes to find myself in a royal blue area, but with no end in sight, like a void. The ground is crystal clear, giving off a flawless reflection of me and the top of the area, no walls or ceiling anywhere. It just seems like it goes on forever, like a sea. I take a step forward, the ground rippling slightly with my movement. _'Where am I…?'_

"Ah, there you are." My ears twitch and I scowl at the familiar voice. I turn to see Eneru, floating in the air, legs folded and his cheek resting on his hand. He smiles and raises his other hand, "Now...the real fun can begin."

I yelp as lightning surrounds me and lifts me into the air, surrounding me on all sides like a cage. It's tight and cramped, like being surrounded by metal or stone. "Pika pika!" I growl.

Eneru continues smiling, "No point in resisting now; I've already gotten my hold on you." Hold? What is he talking about?

"Pika-chan…?"

My eyes widen. _'Sanji?'_ I manage to turn and see a round clear circular window appear before Eneru and myself. Inside the window is the ship; I can see the Merry's head right in front of me. Wait...wasn't this where I was standing a few minutes ago?

"Pika-chan, are you alright?" I hear Sanji's voice again. Eneru flicks his index finger and the image in the window starts to move; so this window is my sight?

My eyes widen as Sanji, Nami, and Usopp come into view. "Pika pi!" _'You guys!'_ I exclaim.

The window moves up slightly to face them and they all flinch. Nami and Usopp slowly back away in fear and Sanji's expression becomes confused and concerned. "Pika-chan?" Sanji asks.

Eneru chuckles, forcing me to look at him. "You should be honored." he says.

"What the-?" I look back at the window as my three friends react; did they hear him?

"Your little friend has been chosen...to be the vessel of God."

* * *

 **Yep! THAT just happened! The minute I found out Eneru literally turned into lightning, this idea never left my brain! I told you I had big plans for Skypiea! Get ready for drama and angst people!**

 **Also, please don't ask for the mechanics of how this is working. That'd be like asking me for an anatomy chart breaking down how Pikachus charge and release electricity X3**


	68. Vessel

**Quick note, next week I'll probably be updating a day early. Band camp is coming up and I don't know if I'll have time to post on Friday. Just FYI.**

* * *

 _"You're little friend has been chosen...to be the Vessel of God."_

If I wasn't floating in this stupid cage I probably would've fallen over from disbelief. Vessel of God…? Please don't tell me that means what I think it means...

I watch as Sanji's gaze darkens, "You…" he growls. "What have you done to Pika-chan?!"

Eneru chuckles, "It must be fate," he says. "I never thought someone would bring me a creature that would be a worthy ally."

Ally?! You're controlling me!

"You puny humans are strong, but you could never handle the power I possess." he continues. "But this creature...it lives and breathes electricity as I do; in a sense, we are almost one and the same."

No way! I'm nothing like you! Let me go!

"Pika-chan is nothing like you!" Nami snaps, though her voice sounds a bit shaky. "Pika-chan wouldn't let someone like you control it!"

Eneru laughs, "Sorry, but your 'Pika-chan' is gone." Sanji's jaw tightens and his fists clench. "I'm in control now; your little pet belongs to me. Consider it the sacrifice you owe me, since you escaped from the altar."

My eyes widen as Sanji suddenly charges toward me, anger written all over his face. It's then that I realize the gravity of the situation I'm in; Eneru is in my body, he can talk through me and control my movements...that mean's he can control my lightning!

Eneru crackles with electricity and I can feel a familiar urge rushing through me. The urge I feel when I'm charging up for an attack, only this time the lightning feels ten times more powerful! And Sanji's heading straight into it!

"YOU BASTARD!" Sanji roars.

"Pika!" _'Sanji! No!'_ I watch in horror as a tiny eerie green lightningbolt, mixed of my yellow lightning and Eneru's blue lightning, shoots from my cheeks and strikes Sanji. I yell out in horror as I struggle against my cage in vain. _'No! NO!'_

"My, you have more power than I thought; impressive for a tiny rodent." Eneru says with a grin. Sanji falls to the ground, burnt black and unmoving.

 _'No no no! Sanji, get up! Sanji! SANJI!'_ Usopp and Nami surround him and I almost shut down. I just attacked Sanji...I attacked him with the intent to kill...my crewmate...my best friend...my _partner_ …

"Relax, he's not dead." I turn abruptly to Eneru, tears starting to prick my eyes. Nami and Usopp don't react so he must be only talking to me. "This game would be much less exciting if all the key players were killed this early."

My expression turns murderous and I try again to break free from my cage. "PIKA PIKACHU!" _'YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR TO ARCEUS I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!'_

Eneru simply laughs at my struggles.

"Eneru…" We turn to see Sky Knight glaring at us.

"There's no need to be so resentful." Eneru says, talking through me again. "It's spoiling out beautiful reunion." He laughs making a shiver run up my spine.

"Hey! You!" The window turns to show Usopp, standing before Eneru and shaking madly. "I don't know what you did to Sanji or what you're doing to Pika-chan, but you better stop with the monkey business...or my eight thousand followers will rip you to shreds!" He says firmly despite the fear in his voice. "In fact, I'll call off my angry army if you stop controlling Pika-chan and just leave!"

Eneru says nothing and I feel my body go onto all fours, still glaring at Usopp.

I feel electricity surge through me again and my eyes widen. "Pika pi!" _'Usopp! Get away!'_ I bang against the cage with my paws as the same green lightning emerges from my body and strikes Usopp. _'No! Stop! Stop it!'_

The lightning ceases and Usopp falls right on top of Sanji, burnt black. I slump to the ground in disbelief as Nami stares at me in horror. "Damn you…" Sky Knight growls.

Eneru points at Nami, "You will stay quiet, or join your friends." he says dangerously. "Am I clear?" Nami covers her mouth, her skin white as snow and slowly nods.

I grit my teeth and bang against the cage as hard as I can, _'Let me go you bastard! LET ME GO!'_ Eneru only chuckles and ignores me.

"Why are you here Eneru?" Sky Knight grounds out. "I've been keeping your followers busy the past six years." Eneru says. "They've been slaving away without a moment's rest." I can feel Eneru's grin on my face as Gan Fall shakes with rage. "However, it seems their time of labor is over; this island is no longer of any use to me." He must be talking about Gan Fall's Divine Squad.

"I've simply come here to bid you farewell, and to acquire what's rightfully mine." He says, looking at my paws. "This Blue Sea Demon has more power than I ever imagined; not just any creature can absorb and rebound my attacks."

My eyes widen as I remember when I saved Conis and Luffy from that giant blast as well as all the times I've fought since arriving in the White Sea. I've been parading around my powers ever since we got here and he's been watching this whole time! How long has he been planning to get his hands on me?!

"Now with this vessel, I wield the powers of the White and Blue Seas; this is the only creature worthy of being by my side."

 _'Yeah, I'll stand by your side when Hell freezes over twice, you bastard...'_

Eneru chuckles. "I must thank the blissful innocence of the Sky People for sending this creature to me; I never thought those puny humans would ever be of real use to me, considering they think this island is nothing but a clump of verth in the sky."

"What are you talking about?" Gan Fall demands.

"Stupid old man," Eneru shakes his head. "All these years you never guessed the true reason we seized this island. The same reason the Blue Sea flies are here and why the Shandorians fight so hard to return to their homeland." Wait, don't tell me- "There is only one thing they all seek; the treasures of Shadora, the legendary city of gold!"

No way; you're telling me that that stupid city of gold is the reason all this is happening?! Eneru most likely wants the gold for himself and the Shadorians just want to protect what's rightfully theirs! And the Sky People don't even know what gold is! I think this treasure just became way more than we can handle!

"Our little survival game is now in its final play; whoever wins gets the gold." Eneru says. I blink as Eneru suddenly vanishes from my mind, leaving me alone. However, the cage I'm in doesn't disappear with him.

Electricity surrounds the window of my sight and my vision is lifted up higher. I can see Eneru's shadow on the deck so I guess he's out of my body; but then why am I still here? Does he still have some kind of hold on me?

Eneru steps away from Gan Fall and stands on the railing of the Merry. "As a matter of fact, I'm a contestant myself, so I must be off; now that I've acquired my vessel, winning won't even be considered child's play."

I growl at the window; stop calling me a vessel! I'm not some costume you can put on!

"Wait, Eneru!" Gan Fall says. "Do you plan on freeing my Divine Squad?"

"God only knows." Eneru says. "And he's not telling."

The window suddenly flashes blue and the Merry disappears. It stays that way for a few seconds before we appear at the base of a tree somewhere on the island. He must've used his powers to teleport us here. I guess I only saw blue because I was being carried through the lightning. I can't turn into lightning after all.

My window of vision moves forward with Eneru; seriously, how am I moving with him?

As if sensing my question, Eneru stops in front of a clear puddle of water, probably from the nearby Milky Roads, and my window tilts down. Eneru appears in the reflection, in all his glory, the only difference being my body, which is suspended in the middle of the weird ring on his back.

Tiny streaks of blue electricity are holding me in place and my body is limp and lifeless despite my eyes being slightly open, allowing me to see while trapped in my mind. I look hypnotized, almost brain dead. I guess that's a good term to use for my predicament.

Eneru suddenly crackles with lightning and vanishes in the blink of an eye, leaving me behind and appearing in my head near me again. I look at my reflection when I land and grit my teeth. My eyes are now light blue, the color of Eneru's lightning.

My mouth is twisted into Eneru's sick grin and electricity is constantly pulsating through my fur, crackling loudly, making most of my fur stand up and look ten times more threatening. There's also a design on my chest and forehead, the same symbol as those circles on Eneru's ring.

That mouse in the reflection... that isn't me.

"Feast your eyes little one." My mouth moves as Eneru speaks. "You are a vessel for God; this is the image of true power."

True power huh? I've heard that one before. "Pikachu." I snap. _'When Luffy finds out what you've done, you'll know true power.'_

"Such a feisty spirit, I like it." Eneru says with a grin. "It's that kind of attitude we'll need to win this game."

Quit saying 'we'! I'm not on your side and I never will be!

"Hmm, two Shandorians are coming this way." Eneru says. "I think now is a good time to see what my newfound abilities are capable of." Oh no...that can't be good! Staying my body, Eneru gets on all fours and climbs the tree we're near with ease. I never thought I would hate myself for knowing how to climb trees so well; if I wasn't this useful maybe I wouldn't be used as a puppet.

Eneru reaches the top and hides among the leaves as he travels from branch to branch before stopping at a specific one. "I forgot how invigorating it feels to run." Eneru says with a grin, looking over my possessed body. "Being God can sometimes make you appreciate the smaller things in life." He looks at me. "No offence."

I simply scowl at him. This guy isn't gonna get the best of me; until I can find a way to get him out of me-

"Ah, the players have arrived." I perk up and look as two Shandorians come skating down the Milk Road. One is fat with a helmet, while the other has glasses and a feathery cape of some kind. Eneru grins and my paw points at the fat one.

Before I can blink, a thin stream of green electricity shoots from my paw like a pistol and strikes the Shandorian, burning his body nearly black. _'Oh Arceus…'_ I breathe in horror as the Shandorian falls off into the Milk Road before falling through the bottom to the hard ground.

"What?!" The other warrior exclaims, looking around frantically.

"I'm right behind you." Eneru says smoothly.

The warrior turns around and raises his spear, "The Blue Sea Demon!" He exclaims.

"Careful how you speak, Kamakiri of Shandora." Eneru says, making him freeze. "This demon is now on the side of God, and you will treat it as such."

"Pika pika pi!" _'I am **not** on your side, for the last time!'_

"So Wyper was right." Kamakiri growls. "You've stooped so low that you bring demons to aid you in your fight!"

Eneru laughs and electricity surrounds my body as Eneru vanishes from my head. "This creature is but a vessel to add to my power. I could easily win this game without it, but that wouldn't be much fun, now would it?"

"A game?! This is a game to you?!" Kamakiri demands.

"I can tell that you really want to kill me right now; and I don't need my Mantra to tell me that." Eneru continues. "Very well, I'll give you five minutes."

"What?"

"You've shown great courage in making it this far, so you deserve some kind of reward." Eneru says. "For five minutes, I won't move a muscle; I won't attack, dodge, or even use my vessel, I am completely at your mercy." Kamakiri tightens his grip on his spear. "But once those five minutes are up, you will know what it means to face God."

I flinch as Kamakiri roars and throws a Cloud Dial up, creating a path up to Eneru. "I've had enough of you!" I hold my breath as Kamakiri attacks Eneru with full force, stabbing and piercing every visible part of his body. But Eneru doesn't even flinch; this is bad!

"Pikachu!" _'No, run! You have to run!'_ I call out, half of me knowing that it's in vain while I try to find some semblance of control. But it's like my whole body is numb; when Eneru controls me I can at least kind of feel my body. I guess I'll have to wait until then to try and break free.

Finally, Kamakiri appears beside Eneru and thrusts his spear right through his head. No blood, not even a flinch of pain. Eneru feels nothing. Kamakiri yells out in pain and falters as electricity climbs his spear, electrocuting his whole body. After a few moments, his body starts steaming and he kneels, coughing up blood. "I can't...beat you...can I?" He manages.

"No. You can't." Eneru answers. "I am living lightning." The electricity around Kamakiri seems to intensify. "No man can stand up to my power; only my vessel is capable of withstanding me." He says. "The rest of you will all simply burn into ash."

Kamakiri roars and lets go of his spear, whipping out a stick with a Dial on it. We watch as air begins to flow out of the Dial and he lunges towards us. I flinch as he slashes at us, and the air cuts cleanly through Eneru and the tree we're sitting in.

However, Eneru simply smiles as his body becomes lightning. Kamakiri takes the opportunity to skate back down the Milk Roads while Eneru seeps into my body, making him appear in my head. "Let's give him a head start, shall we?" He says, holding up my paw again, pointing at Kamakiri.

"Pika!" _'No don't!'_ I yell, trying my hardest to fight. I can definitely feel my body and I can feel his electricity and mine merging; I just have to...regain...control! I push with all my might but it's no use! Eneru keeps pushing me down, making my cage smaller, nearly squeezing the breath out of me.

"Now, 1 million volt, body." Eneru says and a stream of green lightning shoots towards Kamakiri. The minute it hits him, a giant explosion of electricity erupts through the area.

 _'NO!'_ I scream as Kamakiri falls to the ground, burnt black and leftover electricity travels down the Milk Roads.

Eneru disappears from my mind and becomes himself again before jumping down to the ground. "Hm, another twenty voices vanished after that lightning bolt." He says. "There must have still been some players on the Milky Road."

Oh Arceus...that attack hit more than just Kamakiri?! He said twenty voices vanished...that attack hit twenty people including Kamakiri?!

"81 people were here at the beginning of this game." Eneru says. "And 56 have fallen after two hours, leaving only 25 survivors; that's a lot more than I estimated." I growl from inside my cage; how can this guy talk about people's lives so easily like they're just toys he can throw away?! "No matter, they'll all fall in time." He says. "The only question remaining is, who will come with me?"

Eneru walks through the forest for a good while, only zapping one other Shandorian. I zone out for a while as Eneru walks through the forest in silence, trying to think of a way out. I thought about charging up over time so that when Eneru possesses me again I can force him out with one blow, but when I'm like this, I can't even do that! How strong is his power that he just has to hold me in his lightning to keep me completely helpless?!

After a while, Eneru stops and looks up. "Well, it seems a number of players have made it to the upper ruins." He says. My window is once again filled with blue electricity as I'm carried Arceus knows where, and Eneru appears next to me when the lightning vanishes. He's controlling me again?!

Eneru moves forwards on all fours as a giant white cage of iron comes into view. There's a few figures in there, one being a giant dog and there's another Shandorian as well; I guess that's Wyper.

My eyes widen with hope as I spy a head of green hair inside the cage. I press myself against my own cage. "Pika!" _'Zoro!'_

The swordsman glances at me and I see a bit of relief in his gaze; he doesn't realize that it's not me! My eyes widen even further when the window's image moves to the black haired lady, who's walking towards the cage. I take one look at Eneru's face and I begin struggling in vain against the cage, fighting for some kind of control as Eneru makes me walk towards her.

 _'No!'_

Eneru steps up right behind the lady.

 _'Stop it!'_

The lady looks down at me, surprise in her gaze but no fear; her guard is down.

 _'STOP IT!'_

Eneru grins and I feel electricity surging through me. The lady's eyes widen before green electricity envelops her. Wyper watches with wide eyes as she falls to the ground, burnt black and unmoving. "Laki!"

My body is shaking all over as I spy Zoro's face; it's a mixture of anger and pure disbelief. I sit down as the numbness sinks in again. I had killed someone...my electricity had helped kill an innocent person…

Eneru disappears and I watch as my vision is lifted up, my body trapped in Eneru's ring once more. Zoro's eyes widen as Eneru's laugh rings through the air and he sees the form of the one controlling me. "Did you really think I'd spare her?" Eneru asks. "Surely you understand the concept of no mercy."

"Eneru…" Wyper growls.

"You'll join her soon enough." Eneru says dangerously. My ears droop and I lower my head; how many more people will I have to kill like this? How long will I have to just sit and watch as this monster uses my body for his own sick motives?

"Hey." My head shoots up; it's Zoro. "Mind telling me what you're doing with my crewmate?" Zoro moves a little closer to the gate, his eyes looking straight at me. I thank my lucky stars that he's trapped in there; at least there I know that he won't end up like Sanji.

"Oh, you mean my vessel?" Eneru asks. Zoro's eyes narrow at the term. "I'm simply using its ability for divine purposes; your crewmate is now a part of a holy being."

I bang against the cage once more; I can't take much more of this! Being used as a puppet...it's just torture! The image in the window suddenly changes as Eneru teleports away. Where are we going now?

"Well, it seems that someone has stumbled across Shadora." Eneru says. My ears perk up; someone found the city? I look out the window as we land in the midst of some ruins, but that's not what scares me.

Robin's here. Alone.

And now Eneru is too.

* * *

 ***dramatic music plays***

 **Pika-chan's staying pretty strong so far...but there's only so much you can take when you're being possessed to kill...**


	69. Mind Struggles

**Alright so I WON'T be able to post a chapter next Friday because of band camp, but I'll be home by Saturday so IF I can actually finish the next one I'll post it on Saturday or Sunday. If not, I'll just post the next Friday, we'll see. The website where I watch the episodes is acting wonky :/**

* * *

My heart races as Eneru watches Robin. Robin's alone, most likely investigating the ruins surrounding us. I feel a small comfort knowing that Robin won't be like Luffy or Zoro and try to charge in, but I doubt that will stop Eneru.

"And who are you?" Robin asks, noticing that she's no longer alone.

"I'm God." Eneru answers easily. Robin doesn't even flinch and her eyes hone in on me. She doesn't say anything; but then again, knowing Robin she's probably already put the pieces together.

"You're quite intelligent, having found this place so fast." Eneru says. "It took us several months to do the same thing. But unfortunately, you're a few years too late to find the gold."

"You're right, I haven't found any." Robin agrees. "I'm guessing you're the one who removed it."

Eneru smiles, "Gold is a wonderful thing to have and suits me well." Wait, if Eneru took the gold, then where on earth has he been keeping it? Wasn't this whole 'survival game' about the gold? He said that the winner would get the gold. Is he really so confident that he went and took the gold ahead of time? Actually, that's really not surprising.

"Then you must have taken the golden bell that was here as well." Robin says. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the bell! Noland mentioned it briefly; I would think that thing would be pretty easy to spot if it was here.

"There was a golden bell?" Eneru asks. Both Robin and I start; he doesn't know? "I'm intrigued; what did you learn from these ancient writings?" I can't help but deflate in relief; he needs Robin for answers so she's safe for now.

"Actually I never got to read them." Robin says. "If the bell and belfry wasn't here when you found the city then it must be another myth."

Eneru looks thoughtful, "No...it was here." He says. "When the Upper Yard was shot into the sky it was said that a bell's chime could be heard throughout the nation; they called it the island's singing voice." My ears perk up; that actually makes sense! But...if they heard the bell all those years ago, why is it not here now?

"There are only eight minutes left in the game; that gives me plenty of time to look for the golden bell." Eneru says before laughing heartily. I growl and push against my cage; the last thing I want is to give this guy the satisfaction of winning! Besides he already has all the gold from the city, what good would the bell be?

Eneru suddenly stops laughing and looks around, "Interesting...it seems there's a maggot on the run." That doesn't sound like he's talking about the Shandorians. What could he mean? "It seems one of my slaves escaped; and is conversing with the two traitors." He says to himself. "Well, this will certainly save time."

One of his slaves? Is he talking about one of Gan Fall's people? And traitors? Who else other than Gan Fall could be marked as a-

My eyes widen as the answer comes to me. Two traitors...people who went against Eneru and his orders… No... not them...not Conis and Paguya!

Suddenly my window glows blue and Eneru appears in my head. "Now, it's time to see just how powerful I can be with you at my disposal."

"PIKA PI!" I scream, banging against the cage as hard as I can from all sides. I feel Eneru's lightning begin to merge with mine and I try to resist. I try to separate myself from him, but the cage begins to shrink. I cry out as I'm slowly crushed, symbolizing Eneru pushing my willpower back to keep his own unscathed.

No! No! I can't let this happen! I'm not there to deflect his attacks! Conis and Paguya don't stand a chance! Dammit, c'mon Pika-chan! Break free! You've got to break free!

"That's enough." Eneru says and my cage shrinks even further making me scream in pain. Green lightning appears in my window, changing the glow to green and a gigantic blast of lightning emerges from my body. I continue to scream in agony as I feel my insides strain from such a gigantic energy release. Thank Arceus he hasn't used me to _absorb_ lightning, or I would really be in trouble.

Tears of pain and anger prick at my eyes as I feel the blast travel through the sky and hit its mark, followed by a giant explosion. I collapse with ragged breaths as my cage reverts to its normal size and Eneru disappears from my head. Man, using that much lightning is exhausting! If he keeps this up, I'm gonna be completely immobile when I get out of this!

"What did you do?!" Robin demands.

"I showed mercy." Eneru says, shifting back into himself. "A pitiful worm was in a great deal of pain, so I released it from its torment." My eyes widen; no...Paguya...Conis...they can't be-! "It seems the young woman is still behaving desperately; but desperation is such an interesting emotion."

I perk up; Conis is alive? But he just mentioned her so...oh Arceus...not Paguya… I suck in a sharp breath; Paguya's gone. And judging by the size of that attack there's probably nothing left. Poor Conis…

"Now, our time is drawing to a close." Eneru says. "The time is coming near for me to reveal my ultimate plan."

"What plan?" Robin asks, voicing my curiosity.

Eneru chuckles and raises his hand into the sky, "The Sky Lord is calling you!" He yells. "Heed my call lowly beings, and come to me!" My window begins to glow blue as Eneru surrounds himself with lightning.

All of a sudden, my cage closes in on me, nearly crushing me yet again. But this time, it's not just to keep me suppressed. My eyes widen as I feel the lightning pierce me and I let out a scream. He's not combining our powers this time, he's directly taking it from me! He's using me as his own personal battery!

I writhe in my cage as I feel my energy slowly drained out of me like my insides are being sucked out through a straw and Eneru's arm becomes pure lightning. A giant beam of blue lightning slightly tinged with my yellow lightning shoot directly above us with a giant boom.

Once the lightning disappears, the cage resizes, leaving me in a drained heap. But a few seconds later, I feel energy fill me once again. Did he just replenish my energy? I don't have time to think about it as Eneru laughs hysterically. I look out the window to see debris of all sizes crashing down from above us, and I instinctively cover my head as ruins fall all around us.

When everything finally settles down, I take a look at the damage down. A good portion of Shandora has been crushed by the debris, but mostly the part around us. Thankfully, Robin wasn't hurt and I spy Zoro, Nami, Gan Fall, and Wyper as well, all of them relatively uninjured. My eyes widen as I spy a bloody heap of fur in Zoro's arms. Oh Arceus what happened to Chopper?! Don't tell me he got hit in that huge blast! I then hear a loud roar and Eneru turns to see a giant blue snake roaming around the ruins. Holy crap where did that thing come from?! The snake is looking around the ruins, like it's looking for something and...wait, is it crying? Tears drip down the snake's face and it lets out a mournful cry; what is going on.

"What's the meaning of this outburst?" Eneru says. My eyes widen as the window glows and Eneru appears beside me. Again?! "You've always been an annoyance to me." He sneers.

 _'No!'_ My paw rises and a giant beam of electricity shoots from it, creating a giant green orb of lightning above the snake. Eneru grins and brings my paw down and the orb becomes a giant beam, hitting the snake at point blank range. "PI!" _'NO!'_ I yell as the snake collapses to the ground, it's blue skin now dark brown.

I start to bang against my cage in protest and anger; how could he do something like this?! That snake wasn't doing anything wrong! Eneru shifts back into himself just as Wyper fires his bazooka at us. Eneru easily dodges it and creates a cloud ball out of a Dial, sitting on it.

"That's no way to treat your host, now is it?" Eneru says to Wyper. "Don't get so worked up, you don't want to fun to end so soon, do you?"

"This is a game to you?" Wyper demands.

"Yes, and a very petty game as well."" Eneru answers. "For all of you, will be competing against each other for my entertainment."

 _'Oh no…'_ I watch in horror as Robin, Zoro, and Gan Fall join Wyper while Nami takes Chopper and hides from danger.

"Well done; I'm glad so many of you have made it this far." Eneru says. "Now the five of us will continue on in the final stage of the game." I can't help but feel relieved that he isn't including Nami in this. Chopper's already down for the count and I can't bear to watch Nami or any more of my friends get fried by this monster!

"What do you wanna do, Robin?" Zoro asks.

"I'm not going to kill anyone." She answers.

Zoro nods, "I won't either."

"I won't compete in your sick game." Wyper growls.

"I too refuse to take part." Gan Fall agrees. I suck in a breath as they all raise their weapons directly at Eneru, "You're the only one dying today." Eneru only grins, "Insolent fools." He says. "You dare to threaten me?"

My eyes widen in fear and I press against the cage, "Pika pi! Pika pika, pikachu pi!" _'No you guys! You can't beat him, you have to run!'_ I scream. _'Run! Get away, now! Please!'_

"You have no idea what you're up against." Eneru says, standing on the cloud ball and gripping his staff. "You couldn't possibly comprehend what I'm capable of."

"I refuse to listen to this any longer!" Gan Fall snaps, "Where are the Divine Warriors and what is your goal?!"

"Why, an ascension." Eneru answers, destroying the cloud ball he's on with his staff and slowly floating to the ground. He goes on to explain that he wants to find a place called God's Home, where it's said to be nothing but endless verth. And once this game is over, he'll leave Skypiea and find this place, wherever it is.

"This place that you cherish is an abomination." Eneru says. "This nation that exists in the sky is an unnatural one. When we die we all return to the earth, but in the sky, there is none."

"What exactly are you getting at?" Gan Fall demands. "As God, I am bound to adhere to the divine province of nature." Eneru says. "This unnatural nation will be ripped apart and pulled from the sky!"

We all freeze in horror as his words sink in. He wants to destroy Skypiea?! That was his plan all along?! No...there are innocent people up here! There's a whole culture up here! He can't just wipe them out!

"Now, former God, Gan Fall." Eneru says. "You're still worried about the Divine Warriors, correct?" He asks, sitting down. "They served me well, but the six of us are the only ones alive in this forsaken place." I suck in a sharp breath. He...killed them all? "I didn't want to harm them, but when I told them my goal they dares to challenge me, and payed the price."

"Those warriors...they all have families on Angel Island…" Gan Fall says weakly.

"Yes, I'm aware," Eneru says casually. "I suppose I'll have to bury their families beside them."

My eyes widen in terror along with Gan Fall's; how…? How could someone this heartless possibly exist?

"YOU ARE THE DEVIL!" Gan Fall charges towards Eneru and his spear pierces his chest...only to pass right through.

Eneru suddenly appears beside me again, in control of my body; how fast is this guy? I watch as I land on the spear and put both my paws together, creating a tiny ball of electricity. The amount of lightning surging through me is beyond even my understanding!

"5 million...10 million…" the orb grows slightly larger. "20 million volts!"

20 million?! I can't even generate that much electricity when I absorb real lightning!

My paws pull apart, creating a long streak of lightning connected to the tiny orb in the center. I can't bear to watch as the lightning strikes Gam Fall; I look back a few moments later and I'm standing on his body which is dark brown and he's not moving.

"It's a Devil Fruit…" Zoro mutters.

"The Rumble Rumble Fruit…" Wyper adds.

"That fruit has the power of invincibility; the power of lightning!" Robin exclaims.

Lightning surrounds me and catches Eneru's staff with electric energy making it hover above my small body. It looks like he's staying in my body for now. I've got to try and get out before he hurts anyone else! I push and shove with all my might but it's no use!

Eneru doesn't even seem to notice as he's trying to convince my friends to join him in his quest to find endless verth; yeah, like they'll ever agree to that!

"What will you do if we refuse?" I stop fighting at Robin's sudden question.

"Why wouldn't you join me?" Eneru asks. "If you stay here, you'll fall into a bottomless pit with the rest of the nation."

"I'm fully aware that you could take out the Upper Yard in one fell swoop." Robin says. Stop Robin, don't tempt him! "But if you do, won't you be destroying something you cherish?"

"Ah," Eneru says. "You mean the golden bell?" Of course! He still needs to find the bell!

"No need, I've already made arrangements." Eneru says, making my hope diminish yet again. "Based on your travels across Skypiea, I already know where the bell is." My eyes widen; how could I have forgotten about Mantra!? Eneru's been watching everyone the whole time! Of course he knows!

"Did you really think a mere human like you could manipulate me?" Eneru asks. "How foolish."

My heart leaps into my throat as my paw rises towards her, "There's nothing I hate more in this world than a cold calculating woman." Eneru says dangerously.

"ROBIN!" Nami screams.

"PIKA PI!" _'DON'T DO IT!'_

I point at Robin and a thin green beam of electricity shoots towards her like a laser. My breath catches in my throat as it strikes Robin right in the head, burning her completely.

My mind goes blank as Robin seems to fall in slow motion.

 _'No...'_

I whimper as Zoro catches her.

 _'No…!'_

It happened again...my friend had suffered by my hand...first Sanji...then Usopp...and now Robin… Tears fly down my face as I scream in pure anguish.

 _'NOOOOOOOOOOO!'_

* * *

 **This is not good...**


	70. Last Survivors

**Whew! I almost missed my deadline! I've been packing to get ready for another year of college and that can be such a PAIN! When I get back to school, hopefully I'll have enough time to get ahead, but for now, enjoy!**

* * *

 _'No...'_

 _I whimper as Zoro catches her._

 _'No…!'_

 _It happened again...my friend had suffered by my hand...first Sanji...then Usopp...and now Robin… Tears fly down my face as I scream in pure anguish._

 _'NOOOOOOOOOOO!'_

"Pika-chan…!" Sanji's eyes flew open and pain racked his body. He grunted and sucked in a sharp breath through grit teeth; his whole body felt like it had been roasted over a bonfire.

"Su?"

Sanji turned his head to see a familiar cloud fox sitting beside him. "You're Su, right?" Sanji asked. "You belong to Conis."

"Su su!" Su said with a nod.

Sanji tried to get up again, making sure to take it slow this time, and he managed to sit up with relative pain. He looked himself over, seeing almost every inch of his body covered with bandages; his sweet Nami must have patched him up, leaving the beautiful angel Conis to watch over them. Sanji's fantasy was quickly crushed when he remembered why he was bandaged up. Eneru showed up on the ship, did something to Pika-chan, and...Pika-chan attacked them.

Sanji shook his head; that wasn't right. Eneru took control of Pika-chan and attacked them; he remembered him calling Pika-chan his vessel or some shit…

Sanji clenched his fist as the words 'vessel' and 'Pika-chan' seemed to grate against each other like flint and stone. How dare that Eneru take control of Pika-chan like that! His poor partner...if it saw itself attack Sanji back then it's probably freaking out! What happened after Eneru attacked him?

His question was answered as he finally spied Usopp, sound asleep beside him on a separate cushion, covered in the same amount of bandages as him. So even Usopp wasn't spared? He hoped it was because he was trying to protect Nami and not because he was running away.

"Su, where is everyone?" Sanji asked the little fox.

"Su su…" The fox shook her head, making Sanji panic a bit more.

He got to his feet, ignoring the pain and hurried out to the deck, "Nami! Pika-chan! Old man!" He called. "Where are you?!" The ship was silent, still anchored to the shore of the Milk Road they were sailing on earlier. Where were they?! "Don't tell me that bastard took my sweet Nami along with Pika-chan…" Sanji growled. If he found that so-called God, there would be hell to pay!

One thing was for sure, they couldn't just sit here! "Usopp!" Sanji exclaimed, going back into the room. "Hey Usopp, wake up! This is no time for sleeping!" He knelt down and shook the sniper roughly; they were still pretty injured so he would hold back on kicking for now.

"Huh? Wha…?" Usopp groggily opened his eyes and sat up with a grimace of pain. "What is it?"

"Never mind that, let's go." Sanji said, getting his shirt on.

"Go where?" Usopp asked weakly, still half-asleep.

"Where do you think? To rescue Nami and Pika-chan!" Sanji responded.

Usopp frowned for a second when he suddenly stiffened, "Oh crap! I remember!" He squeaked. "God came and...and…" He remembered lightning, pain, and a sick grin on Pika-chan's usually adorable face as Eneru spoke and attacked through it. He began to shake and almost hyperventilate and Sanji rolled his eyes.

"Relax, he's long gone by now; it's Nami and Pika-chan who were kidnapped!" Sanji said. He grit his teeth, "I can't believe we let ourselves get beaten by that guy so easily, and Pika-chan…" He suppressed a shudder as he remembered Pika-chan's scream before Eneru took control of it. "We have to get them back!"

"Alright, but do we even know where God took them?" Usopp asked.

Sanji shook his head, "I don't know yet; but we're not resting until we find them!" He said.

"Su! Su su!" Sanji and Usopp turned to the door and Su stood outside, looking up at the sky. "Su! Su su su!" She cried.

"What is it, little guy?" Usopp asked. The two pirates went out on deck and followed the general direction of Su's gaze. They watched as blue flashes of light could be seen in the distance along with lingering wisps of smoke from a fresh attack.

"C'mon, let's go!" Sanji said.

"Wait, what?!" Usopp exclaimed as Sanji leapt onto land. "We don't even know if that's where they are!"

"Yeah, but it's the best place to start!" Sanji argued. "Let's go!"

Usopp moaned softly and leap onto dry land, yelping as his injured body protested against the movement and hurried after Sanji who ran into the forest.

Su whimpered as she watched them go, hoping that they would make it to their friends in time. Su felt the urge to go along with them, hoping to help if it involved Pika-chan, but she didn't want to leave without alerting Conis first.

Su sat on the railing and watched them vanish, inner conflict swirling within her; she just hoped Pika-chan was okay...

* * *

I can't stop shaking as Zoro lays Robin on the ground as gently as possible. _'Please Robin...please don't be dead...please be okay…'_

I flinch as Zoro turns, a dark glare on his face. "How dare you…" He growls.

Eneru shrugs, still in my body, "I do what I want."

I can't help but cower slightly as Zoro's eyes glint, becoming the equivalent of a demon; Zoro when he's angry is the stuff of nightmares. Zoro runs towards Eneru, swords at the ready and Eneru raises my paws. Using the electrical energy to make his staff float, he moves it quickly and easily blocks Zoro's first blow.

"You've got skill." Eneru comments.

"And you are completely out of your mind!" Zoro retorts raising his second sword. "Now why don't you quit hiding behind the rodent and give me a real fight!"

Eneru smirks as he makes me easily flip over Zoro's second sword; I never thought I would hate myself for being so nimble. "Well, it seems that even the swordsman has a soft spot for you." Eneru says, looking at me; I forgot that he can talk to me separately if he wants to. "I wonder; just how far does that affection go?"

Before I can properly react to the implications, there's a loud boom. I look up as Wyper fires his bazooka at us, a big blue beam shooting towards us. Eneru only chuckles and my body is surrounded with green electricity, making my cage squeeze me again. I grit my teeth and try to endure the pain as there's a loud explosion and a flash of white light.

Eneru vanishes from my head and flips onto a piece of building; he completely evened out the blast with his power combined with my own! "You still don't get it." He says. "I'm more powerful than you can ever comprehend." Eneru smirks, "The time is near; soon those remaining will set off for Endless Vearth together."

Zoro growls and raises his swords again, "And why do you assume we'll come willingly?" Eneru turns slightly to him and Zoro runs towards Eneru at top speed, "I couldn't give a damn about your dreamland!"

"Zoro, stay away, he's too powerful!" Nami yells.

"Pika pika pi!" _'Zoro, don't do it! Run!'_

Eneru falls off the building and faces Zoro a casual smile on his face as he falls, "You need a lesson." He remarks. Zoro doesn't falter and readies his swords when lightning surrounds my window again.

"Careful now," Eneru says. "I may be living lightning but my vessel certainly isn't." My eyes widen as Eneru appears in my head as we fall, taking over my body. "Are you willing to risk slicing your little pet into pieces?"

Zoro's eyes widen ever so slightly but it's too late for him to slow down. With a grunt, Zoro skids to a halt and turns his swords so the handles are coming towards me instead of the blades. I brace myself for impact when there's a loud clang. I look to see that Eneru had moved his staff to black the blow while using more lightning to keep me from hitting the ground.

Eneru laughs, "You Blue Sea dwellers are certainly a sight to behold; you learn impressive skills yet when a familiar face turns against you, you can't even bring yourself to do what has to be done!"

Zoro growls and lightning emerges from my body as Eneru releases me again, holding Zoro's blades. Lightning inches along the swords and Zoro is enveloped with green lightning.

"Pika!" _'Zoro!'_

Once the lightning fades, Eneru takes his staff in hand and swats Zoro away, his body still smoking from the electricity. He definitely didn't get shocked as badly as anyone else, but he still looks like he's in pain. I'm snapped out of my daze when I hear a loud clang. We look up to see that Wyper's bazooka is on the ground, and Wyper is flipping towards Eneru at top speed.

In a split second, he straddles Eneru and places his bandaged palm against his chest. "What do you think you're trying to do?" Eneru asks in amusement. I watch in anticipation; Wyper has an Impact Dial? But what good can that possibly do?

My eyes widen as Eneru moves...but nothing happens. I can feel his lightning in my body trying to move...but it won't. Almost like...it can't! "Are you familiar with Sea Prism stone, Eneru?" Wyper growls.

My heart almost stops; Sea Prism stone? As in, the stone that's basically like a solid form of the ocean, and the one thing that can incapacitate Devil Fruit users?! "Are you sure about this?" Eneru asks. "You're aware of the consequences of using a Reject Dial!"

Wait, Wyper's going to use a Reject? But...Gan Fall said that the user is killed along with the victim!

"If I must, I'll gladly die if it means I can take you with me!" Wyper says.

"Don't do it!" Eneru yells, actually sounding scared, and there's a click as the shell is pressed.

"Reject!"

There's a loud boom, and I feel my mind shake as Eneru falls to the ground before my window of vision vanishes.

* * *

Nami watched in awe as Eneru collapsed to the ground, blood trickling out the side of his mouth while Wyper stood over him. "He really did it…" She breathed. Eneru...was down.

Her gaze was drawn to a still yellow figure, lying a few feet from Eneru. "Pika-chan!" She exclaimed, running towards it. She knelt down and examined the creature; it was unconscious which gave her a sense of relief. She couldn't stand to see that half-dead expression Eneru had kept on the mouse's face while carrying it around everywhere nor the sight of Eneru talking through the creature like it was some puppet. The poor thing was probably exhausted physically and emotionally.

Nami went to pick up Pika-chan, when there was a flash of blue lightning from Eneru. Everyone watched as Eneru's body convulsed as lightning surged through his own body, making Nami think of...a defibrillator.

"No way…" She whispered in horror, "He's restarting his own heart!" This couldn't be! They were so close!

Nami jumped back as tiny streams of lightning began to appear around Pika-chan's unconscious form; Eneru was still holding on to Pika-chan. Nami's eyes widened as she spied bits of Pika-chan's lightning connecting with the blue streams; Eneru was using Pika-chan's own electricity to keep his own lightning going!

Nami and the others watched in horror as Eneru slowly rose to his feet, the streams of lightning picking up Pika-chan and replacing it in the middle of the ring.

This fight was long from over.

* * *

When my window vanished, I actually thought I was free. I thought even more so when the cage around me started to get thinner. But then the cage shrank slowly and began to slowly drain my energy once again, draining my hope as well. When my window appeared, I was back in Eneru's ring as the man stood over Wyper who looked like he was about to keel over.

"I warned you of the consequences, did I not, Wyper?" Eneru asks and Wyper falls to all fours, blood coming from his mouth. "How pitiful." Eneru muses. "And you call yourself a warrior."

"Don't...address me...as if...you know me…" Wyper rasps. I gasp as he slowly gets to his feet; he's still able to move after using a Reject Dial?!

I wince as Eneru hits Wyper's skates with his staff, shattering it and sending him to the ground. "I'll admit, you landed a good blow." Eneru says. "But using Sea Prism is a cheap trick." I growl; it's hardly cheap against a Devil Fruit User like you! "And what's more? You've used a Reject Dial twice, and you're still breathing; impressive."

Wyper slowly gets to his feet; how on earth is he still able to stand?!

"However…" Eneru raises his staff again. "You're still no match for me." He taps one of the drums on the ring on his back and it lights up with lightning. My cage shrinks and begins sapping power from me once again, but this time it feels like it's really sucking me dry. "30 million volt Eagle!"

I cry out and writhe in agony as a large bird made of lightning emerges from the drum. Eneru points his staff at Wyper with a grin and the bird zooms towards him. Through my pained vision, I watch in horror as the bird hits Wyper at full force before traveling right through him, leaving him nearly black before he collapses.

 _'No!'_ I yell, before crying out in pain again from my cage.

"So this has Sea Prism stone in it, huh?" My ears twitch as I see Zoro scoop up Wyper's broken skate and come bolting straight towards Eneru.

"And now it's your turn, swordsman." Eneru says, tapping another drum on the ring.

 _'No, don't!'_ I yell as the cage begins to sap my energy at full force, eliciting a scream from me this time.

"At this point it's either kill or be killed!" Zoro roars.

Eneru's eyes narrow, "Kiten!" The drum he tapped lights up, creating a giant cat creature made of lightning, which sinks its fangs into Zoro before completely enveloping him in blue lightning.

Both Nami and I scream Zoro's name, though my shout is unheard and he collapses just like the others.

The cage widens again and I just about slump to the ground, weak with horror. How…? How could everything go so wrong in such a short time?! To my relief, Nami doesn't speak and Eneru doesn't even spare her a glance. I guess he figures she's not worth the effort.

However, there's movement behind us, and Eneru turns to see Wyper, standing upright once again. I gape in pure awe as I take in his condition. He's burnt black, his arms look all but useless, and his posture is slumped yet still tall and ready; what kind of human is this?!

"What do you hope to prove?" Eneru asks. "You're going to die anyway, so why not make it easy on yourself?" Wyper stumbles slightly, but still stands upright. "You realize that you're fighting for a lost cause, so why get back up?" Eneru asks.

"...For my ancestors…" Wyper grounds out. I take a deep breath at his words; he and the other Shandorians have been fighting to regain their land for so long. And now Wyper is the only one to have made this far against Eneru; he feels that if he gives up now, he'll be letting his entire race down!

"I was hoping for a better answer than that." Eneru says. "But then again I don't think you're entirely conscious." His hand lights up as he raises it and I bang against my cage again.

 _'No! Stop!'_

Lightning shoots into the sky and quickly builds up energy above Wyper, but the warrior makes no move to get away.

 _'Stop already! Just stop!'_ I scream.

"El Thor." Eneru says and brings his hand down. I cover my eyes as the biggest beam of lightning I've ever seen descends upon Wyper, blowing everyone around it away a good few feet.

When the lightning finally fades, I just about choke on my own air. All that's left is a giant smoking crater where Wyper once stood; I don't think an attack like that even left a body behind! I grit my teeth in anger; Wyper was already barely alive as is! Eneru didn't have to go that far!

"Such a pity." Eneru said, shaking his head. "I had hoped that at least one of them would see reason."

I look around and see Nami, lying on the ground near the ruined building, relatively unharmed. The force from the attack must've knocked her into the stones and kicked the wind out of her. Well, as long as this means Eneru won't try to hurt her.

"Well, I believe now we can put the next part of my plan into action." Eneru says. "It looks like my vessel and I will be the only inhabitants on Endless Vearth." I bite my lip and give my friends a tearful last look before Eneru turns and walks away, leaving my crewmates burnt and broken.

Eneru walks for a good while until we arrive at a large cave, and inside is a giant ship, an ark. "Behold, the Ark Maxim!" Eneru says with delight. "Now in mere moments, we will travel to Endless Vearth, and this abominable land will sink into the Blue Sea!" Eneru starts to laugh as he boards the Ark and sits in a throne room made of gold, most likely taken from the city.

In that moment, I can feel my last bit of hope draining out of me.

* * *

Luffy had no idea what to think as he took in the sight around him. He had found the city of gold and expected all his friends to be waiting for him so they could celebrate. But instead, he found the charred bodies of Zoro, Robin, and Wyper, Chopper bleeding on the ground, and Nami unconscious nearby.

He had no idea how any of this could've happened, especially with Zoro around. Zoro didn't just sit back and take a beating; it takes someone really strong to take out Zoro.

Luffy perked up as Nami stirred nearby, "Nami!" he exclaimed, rushing over to her. "Nami, are you okay? What happened here?"

"Luffy…" Nami said softly, blinking her eyes open and sitting up, rubbing her sore head. That blast really knocked the breath out of her.

"Nami, who did this?" Luffy asked, rage already creeping into his voice.

"It was Eneru!" Luffy and Nami looked up as a tearful Aisa walked towards them. "Only Eneru could have done something like this!"

"You mean the God guy?" Luffy asked.

Nami's eyes widened as she remembered something important, "Luffy! Eneru he...he has Pika-chan!"

"Pika-chan?" Luffy asked.

"Eneru is living lightning; he's stronger than anything we've ever faced!" Nami explained. "He's taken control of Pika-chan and has been using it's body like a puppet!"

Luffy's face darkened, "So this God guy took Pika-chan away from here? Where is he now?"

"I don't know." Nami shook her head. "But that's not all; Eneru…" She took a deep breath. "He plans to destroy Skypiea!"

Aisa froze, her eyes becoming wide and terrified, "My home...he wants to destroy my home?!"

Nami nodded, "He said this place was unnatural, that he plans to send Skypiea down to the Blue Sea!"

Luffy growled and clenched his fists, "Eneru won't destroy this place until he finds the Golden Bell." He said. "I'll kick his ass before he can even touch it."

"Don't worry." Aisa said, facing away from them. "I know where they are; there are only two voices now, and one is being muffled by the other." Aisa's eyes narrowed. "It has to be Eneru and your friend."

Luffy nodded and stood up. "Let's go."

* * *

I curl up in my cage as Eneru sits idly on his throne. He hasn't done anything since coming here except talk to himself and stroke his own ego about Endless Vearth. I turn away from the window and try to drown out the feeling of loneliness and helplessness that's quickly crushing me on all sides.

Ever since we got here, this place has been against me! First the Shandorians, then the White Berets, and now this? I never wanted this! Now my friends are all gone and I'll stuck as Eneru's puppet while I watch Skypiea fall and watch hundreds of innocent people die!

I...I can't take this anymore...just sitting here, waiting for Eneru to use me to kill everyone...I just want it to end! I want Sanji! I want Nami! I want my crew! I...I...I wanna go home!

"HEEEEEEY!" My eyes fly open as a familiar voice rings through the air. "ARE YOU THE ONE THEY CALL ENERU?!"

I nearly fall over as I press myself against the cage, looking out the window. My heart lifts as Eneru and I gaze down from the railing of the Ark and I yell out in pure joy and relief.

 _'LUFFY!'_

Even from in my cage, I can see and feel Luffy's glare. I even see Nami and her waver standing a few feet back with Pierre and a little girl.

"You mess with my friends...then you mess with me." Luffy says dangerously. "Eneru! You stay right there; I'm coming up to kick your ass!"

"Mind your tongue, mortal!" Eneru snaps at him, but Luffy ignores him.

"Pika-chan!" My ears perk up. "I know you can hear me; just sit tight for a little while longer." Luffy says. "I'll get you out of there."

I swallow thickly and nod as my tears became tears of joy.

Luffy runs up the side of the arc and Eneru readies a blast of lightning, my cage shrinking on me again. I start to panic but I suddenly remember the day Luffy and I first met. When he grabbed my tail and lifted me up and I tried to shock him. What did he do? He laughed and said, 'You're a weird rat!' I smile through my pain; I really have nothing to worry about. The blast fades and Luffy stands there, unscathed.

"I'm impressed you managed to dodge that." Eneru says. "16 million volt…" Eneru spins his staff and hits two drums on his ring, "Dragoon!"

I grit my teeth as my power is sapped and a giant dragon slithers towards Luffy, enveloping him in a large blast of lightning. But the lightning fades...and Luffy is still standing, not a scratch on him. Eneru then vanishes, lightning filling my window as I'm carried through the air.

Eneru appears in my head, taking control of me, and he places both my paws on Luffy's head, "100 million volt...Vari!" Luffy and I are surrounded by an explosion on green lightning, but Luffy doesn't even flinch.

"What…?" Eneru exclaims as Luffy grabs my paws and glares up at me.

"Quit using my friend!" Luffy growls. "Get off and fight me fair!" He throws me off him and Eneru vanishes from my head, becoming himself again. Luffy charges towards him, but Eneru doesn't move. Oh yeah, normal people can't hit him! But as he's quickly learning, Luffy is anything but normal!

Luffy lands a hard kick to Eneru's abdomen, catching him completely off guard and sending him to the ground, choking for air. My cage doesn't disappear and enlarges again, but I'm far from worried. Luffy is Eneru's trump card, cause everything that uses lightning learns the hard way that Luffy is made of rubber. They're natural enemies like fire and water. Luffy's the only one who can beat Eneru.

I feel a gigantic weight lift off my chest. After so long...I finally have hope again!

* * *

 **We're nearing the climax and hopefully Pika-chan's mental torture will come to an end soon! Stay strong little buddy!**


	71. Mind Battles

**HAAAAAAAAH! THIS CHAPTER TOOK ALL OF MY EFFORT YOU BETTER APPRECIATE IT!**

 **Basically classes started for me so I got SO behind in this! Plus, other fandoms have been latching onto me and the LAST thing I want is to lose my muse after I've gotten so far in this story! (Hamilton, STOP RUINING MY LIFE!)**

 **Anyway, things are about to get real! Let's go!**

* * *

I fidget anxiously in my cage as Eneru struggles to get to his feet. He's probably completely at a loss, the arrogant bastard. He never imagined that there was someone who could actually hit him let alone withstand his strongest attacks. I can't wait for this fight to play out; I just hope that once Luffy sets me free he'll let me have a crack at this asshole.

"You're no mere mortal!" Eneru exclaims, leaping to stand on the railing again. "What are you?"

"I'm Luffy; a pirate and a rubber man." Luffy answers.

"Rubber?" Eneru asks softly. Oh yeah, guess there wouldn't be any rubber up here.

"Yeah, that lightning of yours won't work on me!" Luffy yells and charges towards Eneru. But Eneru doesn't move and closes his eyes. Oh crap! I completely forgot about mantra!

He easily dodges all of Luffy's attacks, despite Luffy throwing them out back to back. Eneru eventually pins Luffy against the golden section of the ark with his staff, "Don't push your luck; lightning can do more than give out electric shocks."

Luffy growls and swings his foot out, but Eneru teleports away, landing on the railing again. Dammit! With that mantra thing this fight is ten times harder than it should be for Luffy! Being made of rubber doesn't mean squat if he can't hit him!

Eneru holds out his staff and lightning surrounds it, and it transforms into a golden trident. "Think of this as lightning in solid form!"

I bite back a yelp as he leaps towards Luffy and thrusts the trident forward, nicking Luffy on the chest. Eneru laughs as Luffy retreats to the top of the ark. "As I thought, slashing attacks are your weakness!"

Luffy shrugs, "Yeah, pretty much."

I sweatdrop and Nami gapes. "Don't tell him that!" Wait, when did Nami get up here? Did she climb up or did Pierre drop her off? I guess she wants to make sure the gold isn't going anywhere; as long as she stays out of danger.

Luffy leaps off the ark towards Eneru, "Gum Gum...Gatling!"

But before he can attack, Eneru vanishes again, leaving me behind in the air. I'm still in my cage and I can see lightning around my window so I guess he still has some kind of hold on me.

"Pika-chan!" Luffy exclaims and stretches an arm out to grab me.

My eyes widen as I see lightning moving along the gold behind him. "Pika pi!" _'Luffy, look out!'_ I yell, banging against my cage.

"Luffy, behind you!" I hear someone yell.

Luffy turns just in time as Eneru leaps out of the gold and thrusts his trident towards him. Luffy barely manages to push it away from him, the gold blades only grazing him. Luffy yelps in pain as his hands begin to steam from where he's holding the staff. "It seems you're not immune to electric heat!" Eneru says with a grin.

Luffy grits his teeth and my eyes widen as he reaches out and wraps his arm around me, pulling me to his chest; I forgot that I'm separated from Eneru's ring! "Gum Gum…" Luffy stretches his leg up high between him and Eneru. "Battle Axe!"

The last thing I see before my window disappears is Eneru being slammed into the floor of the ark.

* * *

Luffy glared down at Eneru as he made a giant hole in the ark's deck. He had him now! "Nami! Hold Pika-chan!" He yelled, tossing the unconscious yellow mouse to the navigator.

Nami quickly ran up and caught the little mouse easily and Luffy turned his attention back to his enemy. "Now Gum Gum...Gatling!" Luffy unleashed a barrage of punches towards Eneru, but his attack was quickly stopped as Eneru grabbed his wrists.

"It's not like you grew more arms, idiot!" Eneru yelled and slammed Luffy right into the deck, leaving a hole in the same manner as him.

"Luffy!" Nami watched in horror as Eneru got to his feet, twirling his staff around as he walked back to his throne.

Now what were they going to do?

* * *

Dammit, why is this stupid cage still here?! Luffy got me away from Eneru and was beating him a pulp earlier, how does he still have a hold on me?! I bang and pound against the cage with renewed vigor and it seems to give way a little, but it's not enough for me to get free! I can't tell what's going on out there, and it's driving me crazy! I'm no help if I'm trapped in my own mind like this!

Maybe it's because some of Eneru's own lightning is still inside my body. Maybe if I get rid of it I'll be free! I can feel my body a lot more than usual so if I concentrate hard enough-

I'm cut off as my cage suddenly becomes thicker and snaps in, squeezing me more than ever. I scream in pain as my window suddenly reappears; I'm back in Eneru's ring. It looks like Eneru's standing by his throne again and Luffy's standing before him. I also notice that the ark is now in the air; Eneru must've used a part of my energy again to make the thing take off.

I manage to lean out and see Nami sitting on the ground holding Luffy's hat. I then realize that her hands look a bit burned; did Eneru steal my body right from her arms?!

"Now, I think I'll continue celebrating by taking your life!" Eneru says and thrusts his spear towards Luffy, who dodges. Eneru continues to barrage Luffy with multiple thrusts, his spear still red hot with electricity. Luffy tries to block as fast as he can without getting burned, but it doesn't give him much luck. I bite my lip as I try desperately to break free again; how can Luffy beat someone who can predict his moves?!

My eyes widen as Luffy suddenly jumps to his feet; he actually looks like he has a plan! Luffy takes a deep breath and his muscles tighten. "GUM GUM…" I brace myself. "Daze…"

 _'Huh…?'_ My ears droop as Luffy relaxes greatly. He has a stupid look on his face, stupider than anything I've ever seen, and that's saying alot considering it's Luffy we're talking about.

Eneru frowns and thrusts his spear...and misses. He stabs again and again, but Luffy just dodges swiftly like it's the easiest thing in the world. How is he doing that? Is he just not thinking of his moves and relying just on his body? After a while, Luffy flips away and seems to be back to normal; I can see his lips moving as Eneru walks towards him.

As we approach, Luffy straightens, "Gum Gum…" My eyes widen as he takes in a giant breath of air, making his head nearly five times as big. "Octopus!" What in the fresh hell…?

Luffy lets out the air and I look down to see that his limbs are completely stretched out like giant rubber bands. Eneru runs towards Luffy and Luffy springs into the air, towards Eneru's throne. "Gum Gum...Octopus…" He faces the ark itself. "Firework!" Luffy begins punching and kicking the wall madly, his limbs flying all over the place.

Eneru easily dodges them as we approach but as he gets closer, they begin to hit! I get it! Luffy's not looking at Eneru! He's not controlling where his attacks end up! If Luffy doesn't know what his attack is going to do then Eneru won't either! Eventually Eneru is pounded by a barrage of punches and kicks and falls to the ground.

"I'M NOT LETTING YOU GET AWAY AGAIN!" Luffy screams, running towards him. "GUM GUM...BAZOOKA!"

Eneru gets up just in time for Luffy's palms to slam into his middle, knocking just about all the air out of him. Eneru falls on all fours and I realize that my cage looks really thin; it's working! Luffy's winning!

Luffy runs towards Eneru, "NOW GUM GUM…" Yes! Get him, Luffy! Finish him!

All of a sudden, Eneru appears in my head and my cage regains its thickness. Oh no…!

Luffy's eyes widen and Eneru runs back towards the gold in my body. No! My body isn't hurt! By staying in me, it's like he was never hurt at all!

Eneru runs to the gold wall as Luffy's fist hurls towards us, unable to stop. Eneru places my paw on the gold and lightning runs up. My eyes widen as my paw sinks into the gold and my paws move swiftly, creating a giant ball of liquid gold.

Luffy yells out in pain as his fist goes right through the melted gold before it solidifies in a matter of seconds. How much electricity did he use to make the gold melt that fast?!

"You fool!" Eneru laughs. "Is that the best you can do?!" Luffy falls to the ground, completely pinned by the giant gold weight attached to his arm. "What wrong, Rubber man. I've simply evened the odds." Eneru says. "I couldn't take another hit from you in my normal body, and despite my vessel's power, it's obvious that physical strength isn't it's best attribute." Excuse you?! Why don't you let me go and say that to my face!

"And now, I think it's time we severed ties." Eneru says, walking towards Luffy. "And in honor of your fighting spirit, take this gold as a parting gift!" He raises my paw and creates a giant hand out of green electricity, giving the gold ball and hard punch.

Luffy rolls with the weight and it crashes through the edge, nearly taking Luffy with it. Luffy grunts as he tries desperately to bring the gold ball and his arm back up, but the gold is too heavy and it's already fallen too far, pinning Luffy against the railing. This can't be happening!

"Once I'm rid of you, not a soul in the world can defeat me!" Eneru says; I can almost feel the grin he has on my face.

"Not a soul, huh?" Luffy asks, glaring at Eneru. "You're an idiot! Back in the Blue Sea, there are tons of other fighters who can put you in your place!"

Eneru scoffs and raises my paw as his staff appears out of lightning. "You talk too much." He says. "Now fall!" The staff moves on its own as Eneru points at the railing. The staff hits, making the thick wood crumble, and Luffy is yanked right off the edge.

"NO!" Nami screams.

"PIKA!" _'LUFFY!'_

Nami runs to the railing and Eneru leaps up as well, and we watch as a familiar spotted winged horse flies towards Luffy with a little girl on his back. "Oh no! Aisa and Pierre!" Nami exclaims.

"Aisa…" Eneru says. "So that sly little voice I've been hearing has a name."

My eyes widen as I feel electricity charge up; oh no...no no no no! Not this! Anything but this! Not a little girl! Please no!

"God's Judgement...El Thor!" Lightning crackles through the air, drowning out Nami's calls to Aisa and Pierre to get away and a loud boom echoes as a giant beam of green electricity hits the spot where Luffy, Aisa and Pierre once were. They're completely gone.

'No…' I slump in my cage as Eneru's laugh rings through the air. Everything around me seems to go numb as I stare blankly ahead. Luffy lost...he couldn't save me…

Eneru sits back on his throne, still in my body, and begins boasting about how he's won and I drown it all out. I've lost the last hope I had of getting out of this...and now...

"Yeah, you're a real swell guy." Nami answers sharply. "But there's one treasure more precious than gold...it's called friendship."

My eyes widen as I snap out of my depressed daze. "What good is owning the world's wealth...if you don't have friends to share it with?" Nami's grip tightens on Luffy's hat. "There are tons of riches here that I'd love to get my hands on...but sacrificing my friends and watching you prance around in Pika-chan's body is too steep a price to pay!"

Nami glares at Eneru in defiance. "The treasure's yours! I don't want any part of it!"

Tears come to my eyes and drip down my face, evaporating once they touch the lightning on my cage. _'Nami...'_

"Really?" Eneru asks. "You don't want it?" I feel lightning spark through my body. "Not even your life?"

My head shoots up. _'No...'_

"That was not a wise thing for you to say." Eneru says. "You've chosen foolish ideals over survival."

 _'No, please…!'_

"There is but one path left for you…" I can feel Eneru's grin on my own face. "Death."

"PI!" _'NO!'_ I slam against my cage again with my full body. I bang on it with my paws, tail, and anything I can think off. If this lightning were outside my body and not in my mind I'd probably be burned really badly. _'NO! NO! DON'T YOU DARE! DON'T YOU DARE HURT HER!'_

Eneru stands and my paw glows green with high power electricity. At this size, there's no way Nami can dodge this in time!

I slam against the cage even harder, tears flowing down my face. _'STOP IT! STOP! DON'T KILL HER! PLEASE!'_

Eneru grins and the beam readies itself.

I give the cage one last slam before sinking to the floor. _'Please...'_ I whimper, my paws still touching my cage. _'I'm begging you...'_

"NOW BEGONE!"

"PIKA!" _'NAMI!'_

"EXPLODING STAR!"

Eneru is suddenly hit with an exploding pellet. _'What…?'_ Eneru turns once the smoke clears to see a familiar long nose with a long green slingshot standing in the doorway.

"Usopp?" Nami exclaims. My face slowly becomes a disbelieving smile; he's awake! He's okay!

Usopp shivers in fear and glances around, "Hey, where's Sanji?" What?! Sanji's here too?!

"I'm right here, calm down." Eneru turns to the other door where Sanji's standing. His eyes are narrow and focused as they hone in on Eneru, a cigarette in his teeth. I honestly don't know if I feel relieved that they're here, or terrified for their lives.

Usopp sighs in relief, "Don't scare me like that! I thought you'd left me alone!" "Like I'd miss this." Sanji says, stepping out onto the deck.

"Miss what?" Nami asks.

"The look on this guy's face in a few minutes." Sanji answers. "In the meantime, are you alright, Nami sweet?"

Nami slowly nods, "I...I'm fine...but what are you talking about?"

"You'll see." Sanji says, before glaring at Eneru.

Eneru growls, "You impident mortals...what are you planning?"

Sanji grins, "Get ready to cry, bastard." At his words, the ark suddenly lurches and begins to shake.

"What?!" Eneru exclaims. "What is this?!" We all look up at the smokestack as it sputters and dies, making the ark lurch again and begin to descend. "You fool...you didn't!" Eneru growls, glaring at Sanji.

Sanji shrugs casually, "We can't have you blowing up the Sky People; despite our only encounters with them, they're very kind people." Sanji then turns to his two crewmates, "Usopp, Nami, get on the waver and get off this ship." He orders. "There are clouds below us so you should have a soft landing."

"Whatever you say." Usopp says, jumping into gear to get the waver ready.

"But...what about you?" Nami asks.

"I'm staying here." Sanji says, turning back to glare at Eneru. "We have some unfinished business."

"But...you can't stay up here!" Nami protests. "He's too strong!"

But Sanji only chuckles, "I appreciate your concern, my love, but this is something I have to do." With his glare, I can see Sanji staring right through Eneru and right at me. Sanji...he's staying here for me!

"Nami, let's go!" Usopp calls. Nami glances at him for a moment and reluctantly got onto the waver with Usopp. They revved it into gear, and flew off the ark. I can't help but deflate in relief as they get off the ark; at least for now they're out of danger. But...Sanji…

"You Blue Sea dwellers are certainly a loyal bunch." Eneru comments with a chuckle, making Sanji clench his fists. "Always so willing to give up your life for another."

"Shut your damn mouth!" Sanji snaps. "I don't want to hear another word from you when you're using my partner as a mouthpiece!"

Eneru raises an eyebrow, "Partner…? Ah, my vessel!"

Sanji growls, "Pika-chan is not your vessel!"

"I beg to differ." Eneru says with a grin.

"Dammit…" Sanji takes a step towards Eneru. "Pika-chan, I know you're in there!" My ears perk up. "I know you can hear me! You're stronger than him, you can't let him walk all over you!"

Eneru only laughs, "I told you, your little pet is gone." He says. "It's under my complete control." Silence envelops the whole area for a good few minutes until Sanji breaks it.

"Alright." Sanji says calmly. "If Pika-chan's really gone like you say...hit me." Both our eyes widen. "Hit me with everything you've got."

Eneru laughs. "Do you really belittle your life that much?"

"No," Sanji smirks, "I just belittle arrogant shitheads who use others to do their dirty work."

"Pika!" _'You idiot!'_ I bang against the cage. _'What are you doing?! Get away from here! Run!'_

Sanji lights a cigarette and blows out a puff of smoke, "Well, what are you waiting for?" he asks. "Let's see how 'godly' your power really is."

Eneru chuckles, "Very well."

I bang against the cage with all my might as it shrinks. _'NO! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!'_

"Oh, but didn't you hear the man?" Eneru asks. "He insists I end his pathetic life!"

I push against the cage as I feel electricity surge through me. _'YOU LAY ANOTHER FINGER ON HIM AND I'LL END **YOU**!'_

I can't let this happen again! If Sanji gets hit with another one of those shocks there's no way he'll make it! No! I can't let this happen! I...can't…!

My pulse speeds up as I feel more lightning surge through me, but this time it feels familiar. It's my lightning! Not Eneru's, my own lightning! I raise my paws push against my cage and feel the lightning retreat back into my body as the cage slowly but surely begins to enlarge again; it's working! I'm holding him back! This cage has been pinning me down all this time...so if I can get rid of it-!

"What is this?" Eneru mutters.

Sanji spreads his arms, "C'mon, hit me!" he taunts. "What's wrong 'God'? Something holding you back?"

"Hold your tongue, mortal!" Eneru snaps.

I feel the lightning try to surge back up but I refuse to let it. I push against the cage with my entire being as I smother the steadily growing force of lightning. It's my body and I think it's high time that I took it back!

"Pi...ka…!" _'I won't...let you...touch him!'_ I squeeze my eyes shut as I feel the cage of lightning push outwards with my force. _'You won't...lay a hand...on my partner...ever again!'_

With a final cry, I give the cage one desperate shove and feel myself land on the clear ground.

"What?!" Eneru looks at me in both shock and anger and I waste no time striking. Since we're in my mind, he shouldn't be able to use his fancy powers! I charge right into him, knocking him out of the air and onto the ground. The window shakes as my body is probably writhing for some semblance of control.

Eneru smacks me away and I get in an offensive stance, sparks flying from my cheeks. Electricity surrounds both of us, yellow around me and blue around Eneru. The stray lightning immediately clashes together, dancing in blue and yellow around us.

"Know your place, vessel." Eneru growls.

"Pika pika!" _'I'm not a vessel!'_

"Pika-chan?" I hear Sanji through the window; can he hear us?

"You dare defy God?" Eneru demands. "I'll show you first-hand what happens to those who betray me!" He lunges towards me and I do the same. We clash and the entire area lights up brightly.

The movement in the window becomes more violent and I hear Sanji calling out to me. "C'mon Pika-chan, fight him!" He yells. "You're stronger than him; don't let him beat you!"

Eneru and I push against one another and I can feel my vision blurring in and out. One second I'm on the ark in front of Sanji, and the next I'm back in my mind, head to head with Eneru. It's working! I'm regaining control!

I have to get him out of my body! If anything I have to get him out before he has a chance to cage me again! But how? Even if I regain full control here and now there's no telling how long I can hold him off! I can't expel him like I do with normal lightning, he'll just stay latched onto me like a parasite!

I have to do something to get him out, something to _force_ him out, but what? Robin said herself that this Devil Fruit has the power of invincibility! All I have to work with is an empty ark and a cloud forest with Milk Roads beneath me!

Wait...Milk Roads…

I remember Angel Beach when we first arrived in Cloud City. Luffy falling off the broken waver and sinking below the cloud water like a brick. The Milk Roads are water!

Eneru is a Devil Fruit user!

He can't swim!

 _He can't swim!_

I give Eneru one extra hard push and my vision returns to the ark as I let out a cry.

"Pika-chan!" Sanji exclaims, but I have no time for a reunion. I stumble over to the edge of the ark in a crooked path, trying to hold on with all my might. My sight constantly switches back to Eneru and the ark as my control starts to slip. I can't tire out; I have to keep him overpowered! Just for a little while longer!

"You...wretched...pest…!" Eneru grounds out.

"Pika-chan!" I hear Sanji cry.

I slam into the side of the arc as my control slips for a split second and give Eneru an extra hard push back. _'Stay...back!'_ I yell, both to Sanji and Eneru. I quickly jump up to the railing, but Eneru surges back towards his control of me. I manage to latch onto the edge and hoist myself up. My body staggers dangerously on the edge as my vision blurs dramatically, Eneru and I fighting for control.

"Pika-chan! What are you doing?!" Sanji yells.

I grit my teeth and push as hard as I can and I find myself back in my body. I quickly face Sanji and give an apologetic smile. "Pika pi…" _'Sorry about this...'_

It only lasts for a split second before I'm thrust back into my mind, trapped in my stalemate with Eneru. "W-What are you doing?" Eneru demands. "Stop this at once!"

 _'I'm getting you...out of my body!'_ I respond. _'Once and for all!'_

Eneru and I clash one last time and I take the opportunity to hold onto him while keeping control. That jolt makes my body fall over the edge. All I can hear is air rushing around me and Sanji screaming my name as the ark gets smaller; I manage to catch a glimpse of Sanji looking over the edge, though I can't see his expression.

I look at the ground coming towards me and see the Milk Roads coming into view. I steer myself in the air as best I can, Eneru protesting and fighting for control all the while.

'Sorry God...' I say as the Milk Road gets closer and closer. 'But I'm no longer your vessel!'

I hit the soft cloudy water with a splash and let my control slip, falling onto the clear ground as Eneru takes full control of my body once again. I watch through the window as my body flails underwater, desperately attempting to swim. I can hear muffled yells and curses coming from Eneru as we sink deeper and deeper. The weakness of Devil Fruit users is a really big one under the right circumstances. "You insolent beast!" Eneru roars.

I glare at him from the ground, _'Get out.'_ I growl. _'Get out of my body!'_

Eneru glares at me, his teeth grinding together, "You'll regret this you puny insect! I'll make you regret the day you were born!"

 _'Get out!'_ I yell angrily. _'Get out, get out, GET OUT!'_

There's a flash of lightning and I watch as the window lights up with electricity and Eneru vanishes in the blink of an eye. I watch as my body goes limp and begins to float to the surface of the Milk Road and the window finally vanishes for good.

It's finally over. I'm free.

* * *

 **Like review theripestofdolphins said earlier: THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP HAS PREVAILED! (or something along those lines... XP)**

 **I feel like I would've written myself into that trap no matter what, because I really wanted Pika-chan to break free on its own. Now that Pika-chan is finally free we can truly put Eneru in his place! That is...if Pika-chan's body hasn't taken too big a toll from being tossed around.**


	72. Megavolt

I can't help but deflate in relief and sit down on the clear ground, still in my mind; that was certainly an ordeal. Screw spheres, swamps, string and whatever the hell else those priests had planned, _that_ was the real struggle!

I glance around my mind as the window makes no sign of reappearing. It's then that I remember that the only reason I was able to see everything was because Eneru kept my eyes open the whole time. I'm probably unconscious. Fine with me, but I should probably get back; last time I checked, I was deep under the surface of the Milk Roads.

Now...how do I get back? I guess I just have to wake up? Maybe closing my eyes will work.

I close my eyes when something ripples through the air. I look behind me to see...a door? What is that doing in my head? The door is big heavy and wooden; it looks like it would be really hard to open.

Curiosity gnaws at me and I slowly make my way towards the door. I approach it when my mind starts to shake. What the hell was that?! Is something going on outside?

"Su…! Su Su…!"

Wait, that voice…! I know that cry!

Before I can even think on it, I begin to feel tired and I fall to the clear ground, my eyes slipping closed.

* * *

I'm wet.

That's the first thing I register. I'm soaked.

I shiver as I feel something furry nudge me. "Su Su! Su!"

I slowly open my eyes to see a familiar Cloud Fox standing over me. "Pi!" _'Su!'_ I exclaim.

I try to get up only to find that I can barely move. Man, Eneru must've really done a number on my body and mind! To be fair though, I had spent countless hours being used as a personal generator so I shouldn't be surprised.

Su gently slides her head under mine and slowly helps me up. I manage to sit up, but Su has to stay next to me, as I lean heavily on her back. As I do, I realize that her fur is soaking wet like mine. Did she jump in and rescue me?

It's then that I realize that we're sitting on the shore of one of the Milk Roads, not far from the entrance of the Upper Yard. You can actually see Angel Island from here.

I point to the water, "Pikachu?" I ask.

"Su!" Su nodded, and it's then that I realize that she's pretty out of breath. Getting me out of the water must've been quite the task.

"Pikachu." _'Thanks, Su.'_ I say softly, giving her a nuzzle which she returns. I have no idea how she even got here; last I saw her, she was back on Angel Island. Speaking of which, is it super dark right now, or is it just me?

We both flinch as the sky rumbles, the storm clouds as black as night. We watch frantically as lightning bolts begin raining down on the Upper Yard; oh crap, this is bad! I look up into the sky as I see the small figure of the ark high in the sky. I thought Sanji sabotaged that thing! How is it still running?!

My eyes widen; Sanji! I left him on the ark! Oh please tell me he had the common sense to get off that thing before Eneru came back!

Su suddenly whimpers in fear, and I turn to Angel Island. A giant void in the clouds has opened over the entire island, like it's preparing for something big.

Oh crap...Eneru's plan is to destroy Skypiea! It doesn't take a genius to realize that void probably means he's gonna start with Angel Island!

I grunt in pain as I try to get up, at least onto all fours and Su whines in protest. I ignore her and get onto my stomach, gritting my teeth as I desperately try to hoist myself up when a furry body appears by my side. I smile as Su nudges me the rest of the way up, our sides conjoined as she supports me.

We slowly make our way to the edge of Upper Yard and get a better view of what's going on. There are multiple boats out on the White White Sea; looks like the people are evacuating.

"Su su!" Su exclaims.

"Pika?" I ask.

Su helps me lie down without hurting myself and begins her story. I watch her charades carefully and understand what she's trying to say. Conis went to Angel Island earlier to warn the Skypieans about Eneru's plan. Judging by the boats, it looks like everyone heeded her warning and thank Arceus for that! I look back at Angel Island as the void continues hovering over the city.

I clench my paws into fists and I crane my neck to look up at Eneru's ark. This guy has gotten on my very last nerve. I can almost see him up there, sitting in his stupid throne and laughing over his victory. I cringe as his laughter rings in my ears; I've heard that sound for way too long.

I shake my head and turn my attention back to Angel Island. Eneru's gonna destroy the whole island, followed by the rest of Skypiea. Luffy and the others are all somewhere in the Upper Yard; there's no possible way for one of them to get over here to stop it, if they even _can_ stop this! Luffy's the only one who can take on Eneru in a fair fight and he's probably trying his hardest to get back up to that ark; hopefully he won't have that golden weight holding him back.

I grit my teeth; I can't let Eneru do this! I refuse to let him scare us with his flashy powers again!

And then it hits me; Luffy's not the only one who can take Eneru's attacks. I look back at the void and my ears twitch; I can feel the amount of lightning forming over there, even from here. I have no idea how much juice is gonna be in that attack...but I guess I'll soon find out. I slowly rise to all fours on my own, my eyes locked on Angel Island; I am not letting Eneru get the last laugh.

"Pi." I say turning to Su. I point to Angel Island. "Pika pika, pikachu chu!" I point to the void and make sparks fly from my cheeks.

Su jumps in fright, "Su! Su su su!" She cries in worry, shaking her head.

"Pika pika!" _'I have to do this, Su!'_ I say. _'I can't let Eneru get the upper hand!'_

"Su…" Su whines, looking unsure for a few moments until she perks up. "Su su!" She exclaims, gesturing to herself. She wants to come with me.

I smile at her and nod, "Pikachu!" _'Let's go!'_

Better watch out Eneru, cause the Blue Sea Demon is coming for you! We both jump into the Milk Roads and begin to swim, the current taking us towards Angel Island.

* * *

It didn't take as long I thought to reach Angel Island. It certainly helped that the currents from the Milk Roads gave us a head start and we found a way to swim around the boats so we wouldn't hit traffic. That's not to say that it wasn't super taxing to swim all the way there, especially on me. We just about collapse on the ground after we hoist ourselves out of the water.

Su shakes the water off and quickly hurries over to me, "Su su?" She asks, helping me up. Honestly, I don't know where I'd be right now without her.

"Pika." I say with a nod, getting onto all fours and leaning against her again. We look around and grow horrified at the sight. Lightning is starting to rain down on the island, damaging buildings and threatening those still trying to get away. I grit my teeth; I can't absorb all these bolts, they're too spread out!

"Su…" I hear Su whimper as she shakes in terror; I forgot that this place is Su's home. I can't imagine what it must feel like to watch this.

I raise my paw and place it on her ear in a comforting manner, "Pika pikachu." _'It'll be okay, I promise.'_ I'm not sure if or how I can keep that promise, but I'm more than willing to try, for Su's sake.

I move my paw to her back and keep it there as we move through the ruined city, taking any shortcuts we can find to avoid getting trampled on by panicking civilians. The whole time, we keep an eye on the sky, watching for Eneru to make his move.

For a while, nothing happens, but then, a giant sphere of clouds begins to slowly descend from the void. That's the biggest storm cloud I've ever seen! My fur just about stands on end and my tail raises high; that thing is packed to the brim with lightning! If that thing hits the city-!

I look ahead and find the highest point of the island, where some kind of temple or church-like building is sitting. I take a deep breath and glance back up at the cloud ball and then to Su who's shaking like a leaf. My eyes fall on the cloud ground and I start digging through the soft material.

I hear Su question me but I keep digging until I have a good sized hole about six feet down; it wasn't hard considering this is cloud we're talking about. I made it slanted so I could climb out and I hurry out of it.

"Pika! Pikachu!" _'C'mon Su, get in here!'_ I quickly take her paw and lead her down to the bottom of the hole. I gently push her so she sits down at the bottom and I back a foot away before making a cloud wall between me and her.

"Su?!" Su suddenly jumps up.

"Pika, pika pi pikachu." I say, pointing to the dark sky. Su tilts her head in confusion and I continue building my wall.

 _'You stay here and be safe, okay?'_ I add, pointing to her spot. _'I'll be back soon.'_

Su thankfully doesn't protest, but watches me in sadness until I finish the wall. I then move up another foot and make another wall, and repeat the process until I've reached the top, smoothing down the final seal. Hopefully Su would be okay so far underground.

I stomp on the top of Su's hiding place, nodding in satisfaction when it doesn't give way, and turn my attention back to the cloud. I look at the temple at the top of the island and I break into a run. I feel my muscles loudly protest, wanting me to rest more, but I can't afford to rest now!

I abandon using shortcuts and move to the main road, managing to keep from being stepped on as the last of the Skypieans run for the boats with their belongings. That cloud is getting closer by the second and the strength of electricity in that thing is almost overwhelming! I have to hurry!

I leap and bound up the levels of the clouds until I reach the temple and I don't stop when I arrive. C'mon, faster! You've got to go faster! I leap and climb up the walls and multiple towers as the sphere is mere feet from grazing the top. I grit my teeth, sparks flying from my cheeks as I reach the very top of the temple; I'm not letting you win!

With a flying leap, my tail raised and at the ready, I spring from the top of the temple and fly right into the sphere. The inside is dark, windy, and full of lightning as expected. I make it to the middle of the cloud with my raised tail and the effect is instantaneous.

All at once, millions upon millions of volts of lightning begin seeping into me from my tail. After only a few seconds, I already feel light-headed, but I muscle through. I can't just absorb up to my limit this time, I need to get it all!

My vision starts to blur and my body begins to throb, but I keep going.

I feel my insides nearly burst and the seams and burning, but I keep going.

The chilly and strong winds coming with the storm nip my fur and skin, but I keep going.

I scream in pain as my whole body feels like it's about to completely explode, but I keep going! I have to keep going! Take it all! Take it all in! You're almost there! C'mon!

I can barely breathe as I feel like my throat is clogged with energy; it almost feels like trying to keep your mouth full of water while adding more and more water without spitting out or swallowing the water you already have.

Stray bolts that slip out of my body only ricochet back to me thanks to the cloud giving me a chance to properly get a hold of them. I have no idea how I'm remaining conscious right now but I don't let it slip away. If I pass out, I lose, and I am not losing to Eneru; not now, not ever, never again!

My whole body is nearly alight with blue electricity now; it just about looks like my fur changed from yellow to blue. I'm so jam packed with energy, I can barely move, but I manage to look up slightly. Now that the lightning is being absorbed into the me, the clouds making up the sphere are fading since they don't have anymore lightning to produce. I somehow manage to see the small speck that is Eneru's ark and I turn myself fully to face it.

I clench my paws and get ready, my body begging me to release all this electricity as I absorb the last few bolts. _'Get ready to meet your maker, God.'_

I close my eyes, let out a loud scream, and release the energy.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the Upper Yard, the grounded Straw Hats, Wyper, and Gan Fall all watched as Eneru's Raigo seemed to slowly dissipate. It had barely started to brush Angel Island when it just stopped and started to become transparent.

"W-What's going on?!" Usopp exclaimed.

Robin blinked, just as confused, "I'm not an expert on weather like our navigator, but if I had to guess, it looks like the energy from that cloud is vanishing." They watched as the cloud faded a little more to reveal something shining in the center of it.

"What's that?" Gan Fall asked.

"The source of the cloud?" Sanji suggested.

"I...I think…" Everyone turned to Aisa who had her hands cupped around her ears, her face deep in concentration.

"What do you hear, Aisa?" Wyper asked.

"It's a voice…" She said. "It's...it's really far away but...I know it sounds familiar…" She frowned harder in concentration. "I think...it's...Eneru's vessel…"

"The Blue Sea Demon?" Wyper demanded.

"Pika-chan…" Sanji said softly, staring at the glowing light in the middle of the cloud. How on earth did Pika-chan get all the way to Angel Island, if that was really his partner over there?

"Wait, Pika-chan's all the way over there?" Usopp asked in shock. "There's no way!"

"It _is_ Pikachu." Robin said, catching everyone's attention. "What other being do you know of who can absorb lightning?"

Sanji froze; that cloud was full of lightning. His mind flashed to when Pika-chan absorbed Eneru's Judgement to save Conis, crawling out barely conscious and packed with energy nearly making it comatose. "No…" Sanji breathed. "You're not telling me...Pika-chan can't absorb all that lightning!" He protested. "Pika-chan has a limit to how much it can take, so what happens if it passes that limit?"

Usopp gulped; he really didn't want to think of what could happen if Pika-chan got so overloaded it couldn't take it.

But before anyone could question it any further, the speck from inside the cloud flashed. A loud boom echoed through the air as a giant shockwave of energy washed over Angel Island before a gigantic bolt of lightning shot through the air towards the Upper Yard.

The onlookers all shielded their eyes as the bolt zoomed through the air and hit the Ark Maxim with deadly accuracy. The blast lasted for a good few minutes, lighting up the whole sky until it ceased, finally revealing what was left of the ark. All the wood had been completely wiped away, leaving only the golden portions which quickly fell down towards the White White Sea, never to be seen again.

Meanwhile, on the top of Giant Jack, Luffy and Nami watched in awe at the display. It didn't take a genius to figure out who had created an attack that big.

Luffy's surprise faded and he turned to a specific cloud that was a good few miles above where they were. Eneru wasn't through yet; he could feel it. He nodded in determination, "Thanks Pika-chan…" He said softly. "Leave the rest to me."

* * *

Su slowly dug herself out of her cloud hiding place when the rumbling had finally died down. Even from so far under the clouds, that boom was terrifying. She glanced around in shock; every building on Angel Island had been completely leveled from the blast's shockwave; all the human dwellings were completely gone.

But, Angel Island as a whole was still there. The trees and plants looked a bit shaken and broken, but they could easily regrow again. Pika-chan had saved her home.

Su suddenly stiffened in fear; Pika-chan!

Su ran amongst the wreckage, looking desperately for any sign of her friend when she spied a figure in the distance, near the top of the island, falling. "Su!" Su called frantically and bolted towards the falling figure at top speed.

* * *

I can barely keep my eyes open as I fall. My body can barely move; I'm drained in every sense of the word. But man was it worth it! Having that much power at my disposal...I still can't believe I pulled it off without completely combusting! I doubt that completely finished off Eneru, but I can leave the rest of Luffy if that's the case.

Through my spotted vision, I realize that I'm falling towards the cloud sea; well at least I'm not a Devil Fruit user so I won't sink. But I was kinda hoping that I would land on the island and maybe hit my head and get a few memories knocked back into me. That would've been nice.

I suddenly remember the door from earlier when I was in my mind. Suddenly, I don't know why but I...I want to see it again.

My eyes slip closed and everything goes black.

* * *

I open my eyes to find myself in the blue void of my mind; I did it! I'm back! I gotta wonder, is this something I can do or is this just what happens whenever I lose complete consciousness? And...is this, I don't know, safe? Being able to be in my own head like this, and remember it? Kinda freaky. Maybe I should tell Chopper about this; maybe it has something to do with my amnesia.

Speaking of which... I look around but my mind is empty; there's nothing in sight. How did it show up the first time? I think I closed my eyes and…

I close my eyes and I feel something ripple through the air. I open them, turn around, and there's the door. I slowly move towards it and place my paw on it; the wood is very thick and smooth. I look around it (since there are no walls here) but there's nothing behind it. What the heck?

I look up at the doorknob high above me and see a large keyhole underneath. I leap up and hang onto the doorknob, allowing me to peek through the keyhole. I squint and my eyes widen; it's those figures! The ones that keep appearing in my head!

Everything suddenly makes sense; of course! My memories are behind this door! They have to be! I start to hoist myself up to the doorknob to allow myself to turn it.

 _'I wouldn't do that if I were you.'_

My ears twitch as an achingly familiar voice rings through the air. I drop from the door as my mind suddenly changes from an empty blue void to a grassy field surrounded by trees.

I turn around and my heart skips a beat, _'Sandy…?'_

Sandy grins, _'What's up, Tiny?'_

Nothing stops me from zooming over and throwing myself onto him, almost knocking him over in a huge hug. _'Whoa! I forgot how much of a punch your hugs pack!'_

 _'Is it really you?'_ I ask softly.

 _'Kinda, yeah.'_ Sandy answers. _'I mean, it's your mind; I've been here ever since Alabasta.'_

I finally release him and drop back to the ground, _'You mean, this is-'_

 _'Pretty much,'_ Sandy says with a nod, gesturing to the field. _'This is the only peaceful place you can remember soooo…'_

I look around and see blurry figures of myself and a young Sandy (back when he was a Sandile) running around together in the distance. They run right by the door and I unconsciously take a step towards it when Sandy's paw on my head stops me. _'You don't want to open that.'_

I face him, _'Why not? Aren't my memories in there?'_

 _'Yeah, that's the problem.'_ Sandy responds.

That throws me for a loop. _'What? Do you know how long I've been waiting for my memory to come back? It's been driving me crazy!'_

 _'I know, but do you know how many memories are through that door?'_ Sandy asks. _'If you open that thing right now, you're gonna have more memories than you know what to do with.'_

I frown, _'Isn't that a good thing?'_

Sandy shakes his head, _'Not with a mind as fragile as yours.'_

 _'Fragile?'_ I ask. _'What do you mean 'fragile'? My mind is perfectly fine!'_

 _'If it was fine, your memories would've been back a long time ago!'_ Sandy retorts. _'This isn't something you can just get over, Tiny; if you open that door, I guarantee you won't recover!'_

I shake my head, _'But it's my whole life, Sandy!'_ I exclaim. _'I need to know who I am!'_

 _'You **need** to get back to reality, Tiny! This is no time to be messing around with your psyche!'_ Sandy shoots back. _'You can't just take all your memories back in one sitting, you need to take it slow, in doses!'_

I frown as I absorb his words, _'Well...can I at least remember how I lost my memory while I'm here?'_ I try; I think I deserve _something_ for all the shit I've gone through.

Sandy's expression softens, _'Of all the memories, that's the one you **really** need to wait on.'_

That really catches my attention, _'Why?'_

 _'You really think I'm gonna answer that?'_

 _'Good point.'_

I sigh and gaze back at the door, trying to ignore the simple passage to all the answers I've ever wanted. _'Then what am I supposed to do?'_ I ask.

 _'You need to get back, Tiny.'_ Sandy repeats. _'Your buddies are worried sick out there.'_

My ears perk up and I open my mouth to question him when I hear what sounds like muffled voices.

"Pika...chan…?"

"Pika-chan…?"

"Pika-chan!"

"Pika-chan! Are you in there? Wake up!"

"Vitals are normal...but still no breathing!" I quickly recognize Sanji and Chopper's voices.

"C'mon buddy, you gotta wake up!" I hear Usopp's voice join them.

"Please Pika-chan! Get up!" That's Nami.

"Su su! Su…su su!" I hear Su as well; she actually sounds close to tears. They all sound worried out of their minds; how long have I been unconscious for? I've only been talking to Sandy for a few minutes…

 _'You'd be surprised how quickly time can fly in your own mind.'_ Sandy says, sensing my question. _'I imagine by this point, your stupid captain's finished off the jerk who possessed you, so I think you're in the clear. You just gotta wake up.'_

I look at the ground and spare the door one last glance as I hear Sanji again, "Dammit Pika-chan, just wake up! Please!" I can hear worry in his voice like never before. "I didn't watch you throw yourself off a goddamn ark so you could die! So, wake up! Wake up dammit!"

I nod with my resolve. Sandy's right; I need to focus on what I have now. Namely, my partner, my captain, and my crewmates. I take a deep breath and give the field and Sandy one last look. As nice as it is in here, I can't stay. _'Okay...I'm ready.'_

Sandy nods, _'Then my work here is done.'_ He turns and starts to walk away into the trees. _'Don't let the whole 'amnesia thing' get you down, Tiny; you've got some pretty sweet **new** memories right here.'_

As if on cue by his words, the sky lights up with all my memories with Sanji and the rest of my crew, almost all of them happy and full of love. I smile as I watch him go.

 _'Will I ever see you again?'_ I ask.

Sandy looks back at me and grins, _'I'm in your head, Tiny.' he says. 'I'll be around.'_

I can't help but sigh as my body starts to feel heavy and exhausted. My eyes become half lidded before I fall to the ground. I look at Sandy, the door, and the field one last time and darkness takes me.

* * *

The next thing I know, I feel something rushing through me. I feel two hooves pressing on my middle and my mouth flies open. Water bursts forth and I'm turned onto my side as I cough and take deep breaths. I blink and my vision slowly but surely starts to becomes clear.

I feel two hooves check my pulse, "Breathing is back to normal…" Chopper's tearful voice says. "You'll be just fine."

A split second later, I feel two arms sweep me up and hold me close. "Careful…" Chopper says softly.

I blink as my vision fully returns and I try to look at the person holding me, catching the scent of tobacco in my nose. "Pika?" _'Sanji?'_ The response is a tighter squeeze.

My thoughts finally catch up to me and I curl into the tight embrace; I'm back. I'm really back! I did it! By this point Sanji's holding me so tightly I can barely breathe, but I don't care.

"Pika-chan...I thought I lost you." Sanji says softly, his arms around me slightly shaking.

I nuzzle his face lovingly and give him a small kiss for good measure. "Pikachu." _'I'm okay now...I promise.'_

I glance around us to see Chopper, Usopp and Nami around us, watching with smiles on their faces. Nami and Chopper have a few tears in their eyes and I see everyone else gathered around us, even Conis and Paguya. Everyone's here...everyone's okay!

"Su!" Sanji releases me and Su leaps up to nuzzle me, affection and gratitude oozing off her.

"Pikachu." _'Thank you, Su.'_ I respond, nuzzling her back and giving her a hug as well. It's not hard to figure out that she was the one who brought me all the way back here to my friends, if her wet fur has anything to say about it.

We're all okay...we made it! Eneru's gone! We made it!

* * *

The rest of the day seems to pass by as a blur. The Skypieans all came to the Upper Yard, since all their homes were destroyed on Angel Island, the Shandorians made peace with the Skypieans and allowed them to live up here with them, Gan Fall managed to find the Divine Squad and reunite them with their families, and to top it all off, that night, we celebrated with a big bonfire.

There was food, music, and dancing all night long. The Skypieans all danced with the Shandorians like they were old friends; it was like 400 years of war never happened!

And even better, both the Skypieans and the Shandorians accepted me, and even praised me as a blessing from the Blue Sea! I like that title a lot more than Blue Sea Demon! I'm mostly just glad they didn't decide to make me their God.

I laugh happily as I dance with Su, jumping and leaping around everyone else's dancing feet. I've never felt so free! After being thrown around by Eneru and nearly going supernova taking in a giant lightning blast, it feels like everything is right with the world once again.

Tears of joy barely prick my eyes as Su and I spin around, holding paws; this trip to Skypiea had been worth every second.

* * *

 **Woo-hoo! What a ride! That Megavolt though, am I right? And boy, that PikaSu ship was sailing full speed ahead hur hur hur! :3**

 **And we got another piece to the puzzle that is Pika-chan's mind!**

 **I decided to let Luffy keep the whole go inside the Raigo and smash it apart because that was freaking awesome, though now you could say that he got the idea from Pika-chan ;)**

 **Welp, it's been a rough journey for our little buddy, but it's time to wrap up this adventure and fall into the next arc! Literally!**


	73. Free Fall

**Welp, we did it! We made it through all of Skypiea! It's definitely been a wild ride, especially for Pika-chan! Glad you all enjoyed this arc and I hope you enjoy the next one!**

* * *

The celebration lasted for four days straight. I honestly don't know how I've been able to keep up this pace with the parties we end up throwing. My sleep schedule is probably completely compromised. Well, at least we don't have to wake up early.

When the party finally ends, Luffy drags us away from the crowd all secret like and grins excitedly.

"What exactly is going on here?" Sanji asks.

"Isn't it obvious? We're getting the gold!" Nami says happily, money shining in her eyes.

"Pika?" I tilt my head. But I thought Eneru took all the gold. I'm pretty sure the gold bits of that ark are at the bottom of the Blue Sea by now.

"Where is the gold?" Chopper asks.

"Follow me!" Luffy says happily. We follow him but stop as we approach the giant snake. It's sound asleep from all the partying and it's mouth is wide open. Our eyes widen as Luffy jumps into its mouth, "C'mon, before it wake up!" He calls softly.

"You've got to be kidding…" Sanji says flatly.

"Pika pi…" I agree, my ears drooping.

Nami looks pretty weirded out as well, but she takes a deep breath, "C'mon guys, we've got gold to find!" She says, putting her game face on.

We watch as she marches towards the snake and the rest of us hesitantly follow. We go into the snake's mouth and walk down it's throat, and once we do I almost forget that we're inside a snake! It's body is so big it's like a giant cave and there's ruins all over the freaking place from the building's its eaten!

"Geez, and I thought Luffy ate too much…" Sanji muses.

"Pikachu…" _'You can say that again…'_

"Are we there yet?" Nami asks as we trek through the snake.

"Right here! See?" Luffy says, pointing ahead excitedly.

We look ahead, and sure enough, there's gold everywhere! There are crowns, jewels, and even artifacts and plates made of solid gold! "Wow! Is this for real?!" Nami squeals, hugging a crown to her chest.

"Yep, I'd say this is the real deal!" Sanji says, examining a giant gold cross.

"There's even a bell like the ones the big monkeys showed us!" Chopper exclaims gleefully.

"Pikaaaaaa!" I squeal, my eyes big and sparkling as I hold a long golden necklace with a giant ruby on the pendant.

"See? See?" Luffy jumps around happily. "There's so much stuff and it's all ours!"

"Pikachu!" I cheer.

We manage to gather up all the gold, filling up four giant bags to the brim. We haul them out of the snake without waking it up and we share our discovery with Zoro and Usopp.

Man, we really hit the jackpot! Not only did we save Skypiea from a false God, but we even got the gold we were after! Normally we have to give up the treasure we're after, but not this time! We're finally rich!

We gather all our things together, and Nami and Conis go off to get the Merry ready, but then we remember that Robin is still missing. I think I remember seeing her walking off earlier. Well, she always comes back eventually, I wouldn't worry.

"C'mooooon Robin! We can't wait forever!" Luffy whines as he watches for her.

I sit on the ground near Luffy patiently, watching and listening for any sign of her. She couldn't have gone far; she must be with the Sky People because they've all vanished too. I'm not worried since Eneru is long gone, but still…

"Ugh! I'm sick of sitting around!" Zoro says, standing up. "You guys can wait, I'm heading to the ship." I turn around and give him a look; he's joking right?

"Moron!" Usopp yells.

"Jerk!" Luffy chimes.

"What are you?!" Sanji demands.

"A stupid-head!" Chopper answers.

I sweatdrop as the fight begins, or rather, Zoro and Sanji are smacking each other while Luffy laughs and Usopp and Chopper get caught in the crossfire. I sigh and go back to watching when I see a bunch of people coming our way. Oh hey, look who it is!

"Pika pi! Pikachu!" _'Guys, it's Robin!'_ I exclaim, shooting to my feet and waving her down.

I hear the fight stop behind me when I realize that the Sky People are trailing behind her, and they're carrying something. And something huge! So huge that's taking all of them together to lift and move it! It's covered with a giant cloth; what the heck is that thing?

"Heeeeey! Robiiiiin!" Luffy yells. "Hurry up, we gotta leave! We stole some gold!"

"Shut up!" Sanji snaps. "The Sky People are behind her, they can hear you too!"

"Ahh! It's an army!" Chopper screams.

"Noooo! Not good!" Usopp wails. "That giant thing can only be one thing...a canon."

My ears droop; that's...definitely plausible. But...I don't remember ever seeing any canons that big anywhere on the island and I think I would've while being trapped with Eneru. Wouldn't he have used that thing?

"Just our luck…" Zoro mutters.

"C'mon Robin! We gotta get back to the ship!" Luffy keeps yelling, pointing to the gold on his back. "Look at all this gold! I think we got every piece on the island!"

My ears twitch as the Sky People begin shouting at us, but thanks to Usopp and Chopper's screaming, I can't pick it up. Luffy starts to run and Usopp steps up with a pose, trying his usual scare tactic to try and buy us some time. I see Robin face the Sky People for a moment before she finally begins to run towards us, a smile on her face.

"Alright! Ruuuuuuun!" Luffy yells. I start to run as soon as Robin nears me and we all book it into the forest. "Don't stop until we reach Cloud End!" Luffy yells.

"Aye!"

"Pikachu!"

* * *

We run as fast as we can until we reach the forest and the Sky People are far behind us thanks to that giant thing weighing them down. Once we really get into the forest, I find myself running ahead of the group, leaping and bounding over the roots and dirt with ease. Forest terrains are my specialty after all!

"Sanji! Did we lose 'em?!" Usopp asks.

"Looks like they gave up; I don't see anyone!" Sanji responds.

"Thank goodness!" Usopp breathes. "That canon they had really scared me! Where were they hiding that thing?!"

"Their canon?" Robin asks.

"Yeah, you know, that huge thing they were carrying?!" Usopp responds.

"Oh, you mean that thing!" Robin says.

I look back at her; I know that smile. I'm guessing that thing wasn't a canon after all. They were probably giving it to us as a thank you. Ah well, even if it was a gift it wouldn't fit on our ship anyway. I look back ahead and the end of the forest draws near, "Pikachu!" I exclaim, pointing ahead.

"We made it!" Luffy says happily. "There's the Merry!" I see Nami and Conis waiting for us and I brighten as I spy Su among them as well.

"Su su!" Su squeals, her tail wagging happily.

"Pika!" I squeal and pick up my speed. I take a flying leap and tackle Su right off the railing and onto the main deck. Su takes my tackle in stride and we easily roll across the deck and spring right back onto our feet.

"Su su su!" Su exclaims happily.

"Pikachu!" I say and we give each other a high paw.

Everyone boards the ship and we set sail, Conis and Paguya sailing alongside us in their own waver. Su stays on the ship with me and we take the time to actually talk to each other. With everything that happened we never really got the chance. Since we don't speak the same language, we just use charades to talk, but luckily that seems to be a language we're both fluent in.

Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper start watching us after a while, trying to guess what we're saying to each other (and failing miserably), and soon, Cloud End comes into view.

Su and I leap onto the railing and watch as the giant gate comes into view. Past that gate is a Milky Road that will take us back to the Blue Sea. "Su…" Su whines slightly and leans her head against me. Oh yeah...it's time to say goodbye.

Despite everything we went through, it only feels like we were here for a day. I lean back against Su and we sit in silence. Our tails slowly draw together and touch in a gesture of affection. I'm really gonna miss her.

Conis and Paguya's waver stops as they reach a path of clouds around the Milk Road and start running alongside the ship. "I'm sorry, but this is as far as we can take you!" Paguya calls.

"Take care of yourselves!" Conis calls.

"We will! Thanks for the escort!" Nami responds.

"Don't forget about me Conis, my angel!" Sanji croons.

"Tell the others goodbye for us!" Usopp calls happily.

Su and I face each other and we give each other the biggest hug we can manage. "Pika pika pikachu!" _'Thanks for everything, Su! I'll miss you!'_

"Su su! Su su su!" Su responds, nuzzling me.

We pull away, but Su leans towards me. I turn bright red as Su gives me a kiss on the cheek before jumping off the ship and onto land to run alongside Conis and Paguya.

I stare blankly at her for a few moments before Sanji gives me a rough pat and I hear Robin giggle softly. I shake my head and give Su one last wave as Cloud End draws closer to us.

"It was nice meeting you guys, thanks for everything!" Luffy calls.

Conis shakes her head, still running, "No, we should be thanking you!" She says. "We'll never forget you!"

We all give one last shout goodbye when a familiar cry flies through the air and something lands right on Luffy. We all look to see an angry South Bird, calling angrily at us as he perches on Luffy.

"He says 'don't leave without me.'" Chopper translates. Oh yeah, I forgot he flew off when we got here. Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah; the Merry soon tips down and begins sailing down the Milk Roads.

"Blue Sea, here we come!" Luffy cheers.

"Aye!"

"Chu!" I laugh in excitement as I hold onto the railing. I'm glad our last ride gets to be another roller coaster!

"Everyone, grab hold of something! The free-fall is about to start!" Conis yells.

Wait, what?

Everything then seems to freeze as the Merry flies off the Milk Road, leaving us in empty air. The last thing we see is Conis, Paguya and Su all waving to us. "Hesso!" None of us have the time to scream as we all fly up above the deck, dropping at the speed of light.

A few seconds later, my ears twitch as a loud whistle pierces the air. There's a loud boom as a giant octopus emerges from the Milk Road and latches onto the Merry. We all slam back onto the deck as the ship suddenly stops falling.

"What the heck was that?" Luffy wonders. We all look up and gape as the octopus has completely covered the ship, creating a kind of cover with its tentacles. Luffy runs and jumps onto the railing, "Hey guys, check this out!"

We all peek out to see that the head of the octopus has completely inflated, essentially making a hot air balloon out of our ship. "We're not falling anymore!" Nami exclaims.

"Good; for a minute there I thought we were goners!" Usopp says. When do you not think that?

 _Dong!_

My ears twitch as a loud clear sound echoes through the air.

 _Dong!_

It keeps ringing over and over; no way...is that the bell?

 _Dong!_

We all smile and stare at the slowly shrinking Sky Island; they're ringing the bell for us! I close my eyes and take in the sound; I think I understand why they first called it the Voice of the Angels.

Now no one can say that Sky Island doesn't exist. That bell is a beacon for those people. Now everyone will know where they are.

* * *

We continue to float down for a while, and the bell finally ceases. I sit on Nami's shoulder as we've all gathered in the galley to count our gold (except Zoro, he's asleep again).

"We've finally struck it rich!" Luffy exclaims. "What should we buy? I know, a big bronze statue!"

"Only an idiot would trade gold for bronze!" Usopp exclaims. "What we need are more cannons! Ten of them!"

"Nami, I want to buy a fridge that has a lock!" Sanji chimes in; oh yeah, I second that!

"I wanna get more medical books! Can I, please?" Chopper asks, jumping up and down like a toddler.

I slump on her shoulder, my eyes drawing downwards until they land on the Log Pose. I blink and squint, trying to get a closer look; I'm no navigator but it doesn't...look right. I climb down Nami's back and crane my neck to look at it properly. Um...that doesn't look straight. I tap Nami's arm, "Pika-" _'Uh, Nami-'_

"Not now, Pika-chan." Nami says. "Would you guys hold on a second?" Nami finally interrupts the others. "We need to land first, then we can divide up the gold!"

I continue to tap Nami's arm, "Pika pi-" _'Seriously, Nami-'_

"Please buy me books!" Chopper repeats.

"Pika!" _'Nami!'_

Nami squeezes Chopper's cheeks, "If we buy everything you guys want we'll be broke again!"

"PIKA!" _'NAMI!'_ I finally yell, grabbing onto her wrist fully.

"What the- Pika-chan!" Nami exclaims, bringing her arm up with me hanging from it. "What are you doing?"

I start to point to the Log Pose, "Pika pika-"

"Miss Navigator!" Robin calls from outside. "Are you sure we're going the right direction?"

"What? Of course we are-" Nami cuts herself off as she finally looks at the Pose. I brace myself for the oncoming shriek and drop from Nami's arm when it happens. "Dammit!" She exclaims, running outside, "We've been blown off course! Pika-chan, why didn't you say something?!"

A vein pops on my head, "Pika pika pikachu!" I rant angrily.

"Is that a bad thing?" Luffy asks as the others come out.

"Of course it is; now we have no idea where we are or where we're gonna land!" Nami says.

Luffy shrugs, "So? We'll just head to the next island once we touch down."

"Hey." Sanji calls as he looks up at the octopus.

"Sanji? What is it?" Nami asks.

Sanji studies the octopus for a few moments, prompting me to jump on his shoulder. "Pika?" I ask.

Sanji shakes his head, "No...nevermind, I probably just imagined it." He says. Well, okay… I slide off Sanji and move back to the railing.

"We've got a problem!" We all start as Zoro sits up abruptly. There's a moment of silence before he yawns, "Oh, it was just a dream."

"Thanks for scaring us!" Nami snaps.

"I'm gonna filet you!" Sanji adds.

"Pika pikachu!" I exclaim, pointing at him. _'Quit sleeping for once, ya Snorlax!'_

All of a sudden, I see a flash of lightning from my paw and it hits Zoro. We all stare as Zoro jumps ten feet in the air, covered with burns as if I had just shocked him naturally. I look at my paw which is still pointing at Zoro and bring it back to me. I look at my paw in bewilderment.

"What the hell was that?!" Zoro demands.

"I think...Pika-chan shocked you?" Chopper tries.

"But it didn't touch you…" Usopp adds slowly.

"Or use a normal electrical attack." Robin agrees.

"Pika-chan, do that again." Sanji says, seeing my confused expression. Now fully curious, I point at Zoro again. My eyes widen as lightning appears on my paw for a split second before a bolt shoots from it and hits Zoro once again.

"Ow! Hey, knock it off!" Zoro exclaims.

Okay, this is interesting. I move from the upper railing to the side of the ship and face the empty sky. I hold up my paws and being pointing in succession, and every time, a tiny bolt shoots out from my paws. I look at my paws as electricity crawls up my arms, and I gape; holy crap.

"Whoooaaaa!" Luffy breathes, his eyes wide and excited. "Pika-chan, I didn't know you could do that! That's so cool!"

"Pika-chan, could you always do that?" Chopper asks. I shake my head no.

"I gotta say, that's a new one." Sanji says. "But where did it come from?"

"I'd say Eneru is our best guess." Robin says, catching our attention.

"Eneru?" Usopp asks.

Robin nods, "When Pikachu was possessed by Eneru, he tended to use his attacks while inside Pikachu's body." She explains. "One of his attacks involved shooting a thin bolt of lightning wherever he pointed; possessing Pikachu for so long must have had an effect on its body, allowing it to re-create Eneru's attacks."

"So you're saying that Pika-chan basically copied Eneru's abilities?" Nami asks.

"Not all of them, but yes." Robin says.

I slowly beam as I look at my paws in excitement; something good actually did come out of being possessed! This is awesome! "Pika!" I squeal with excitement. I wonder what else I can do with this?

I move over to one of the ropes on the ladder and focus lightning into my paw again. I grab onto the rope and concentrate, and a few seconds later, I completely burn through the rope, even leaving the edges glowing with dim embers.

"So coooool!" Luffy and Chopper exclaim as Usopp quickly moves to repair it.

"Pikachu!" I exclaim; I can't wait to try this out more! I wonder if I can make enough heat for fire with this?

* * *

We continue to float until the sun has fully set. Geez, this is taking forever! I mean, I didn't expect us to get down in record time, but still! Plus, Nami's still freaking out about how far we've drifted. I can't help but sympathize; knowing our luck we'll end up in the middle of something super chaotic or ridiculous; there's no in between.

"Hey! If you guys are bored I've got something fun to do!" Luffy calls. We all glance around as we realize Luffy's not on the ship; where is he?

"Luffy, where are you?" Sanji calls.

"I'm up here!" Luffy calls. Oh, he's on top of the octopus.

...Oh for the love of Arceus.

"Is he nuts?" Usopp asks. You're really asking that now?

"C'mon up, this thing is a blast!" Luffy calls over his laughs as he bounces up high.

"Hey, don't do anything stupid!" Nami calls. "All our lives depend on this balloon!"

I puff out a sigh in exasperation; I'm really starting to question how I've managed to live with these humans for this long. I look at Sanji to see that he's looking up at the octopus again, when he suddenly tenses. I shudder as I get a good wave of shock and fear from him; that can't be good.

"Luffy, stop!" Sanji yells. "Get down from there right now!"

"What are you yelling about?" Nami asks.

"The octopus is shrinking!" Sanji responds, starting to climb the octopus to get to Luffy. "If we don't do something we'll fall!"

"Pika?!" I exclaim, looking up at the octopus.

"You know, now that I look at it, it does look smaller." Robin admits. How does this woman stay so calm all the time?!

"What are gonna do?!" Nami cries. "We're still thousands of feet up in the air!"

I jump onto the railing and look up as I hear Sanji yelling at Luffy when something goes wrong. I blink and then, Sanji and Luffy are falling. "Pika pi!" I yell.

Luffy's arm stretches up to grab the railing, but instead, he grabs my tail. Oh crap…

I let out a yelp of pain as I grab onto the railing mere seconds before Luffy and Sanji's weight beings to pull on me. "Pika-chan!" Chopper yells in alarm as I hang onto the railing for dear life, Luffy hanging onto my tail while his other hand holds Sanji.

"That was scary!" Luffy laughs, "I wonder why the octopus isn't bouncy anymore?"

"I told you, it's shrinking bonehead!" Sanji snaps.

Uh guys, would you mind getting off my tail? "Pika pika!" I manage to cry as I continue to hang on.

"Luffy, get back up here!" Nami orders. "You're pulling poor Pika-chan's tail off!"

"Oh yeah, sorry!" I start to feel Luffy's arm retract and I feel the weight slowly but surely lessen. I get ready to heave myself back over the railing when the air begins rushing around us. I blink as the others on deck start floating and Luffy and Sanji are already getting higher, and not because of Luffy's stretching.

"That's weird, how'd the ship get below us?" Luffy asks. Oh man, this isn't good!

I realize that Luffy's still holding onto my tail and quickly take the opportunity to fling them back over so they're at least falling over the deck. Sanji then grabs me as I'm about to lose my cramped grip on the railing. Now we can get back to panicking.

"We're gonna hit the ocean so hard we'll sink right to the bottom!" Nami screams.

"Only if the ship doesn't shatter first!" Robin adds.

"No way!" Usopp exclaims, getting his bag ready.

"What are you gonna do?!" Chopper whimpers.

"What I always do! Save our lives!" Usopp answers. He jumps onto the railing with his special suction shoes and attaches his grapple belt to the railing. Then, before we can stop him, he leaps out and swings under the ship.

"Alright, Breath Dials, do your thing!" Usopp yells. Oh yeah, I forgot Usopp get a bunch of Dials from the Sky People! A few moments later, the ship starts to fall slower; holy crap, it worked! Those Breath Dials actually worked!

"Leave to Usopp to save the day!" Usopp laughs as he floats back up to us in the air.

"Usopp, you're so brave!" Chopper gushes.

"Pika pika!" I agree, giving him a nod; good thinking!

Luffy laughs. "I was actually scared there for a second!"

"Me too!" Nami agrees. "Looks like we're finally safe!"

There's a loud pop and the octopus disappears from the ship.

"...Or not!"

We all scream as we start to fall at top speed. Luffy pulls Usopp back onto the ship, "Everyone grab hold of something!" I squeak and cling to Sanji as he pulls me as close as he can. This is gonna be rough!

 ** _BOOM!_**

We land in the ocean and rock this way and that. Water spills onto the deck and pours on us from the splash we made. All of us cling to the ship for dear life until the ship finally stops rocking. I dare myself to open my eyes and am relieved to see that the ship is still in one piece. "You okay, partner?" Sanji asks me.

I sigh in relief and deflate in Sanji's arms, "Pika." I say with a nod.

"That was scary…" Nami breathes. "What happened to the octopus?"

"Guess it ran out of air." Robin supplies.

"I wonder how _that_ happened." Sanji grumbles, glaring at Luffy.

I jump down from Sanji's arms when something big falls on my head with a splat. I see tentacles hanging in front of my face; I found the octopus.

"Hey, don't whine!" Luffy says, plucking the octopus off my head, "At least we made it down here alive!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sanji admits, "And we got to see an incredible place."

"Pika…" I agree, leaping back onto Sanji's shoulder.

"It seems so far away now." Robin muses.

"Like something out of a dream." Nami agrees.

"Think we'll ever see it again?" Chopper asks.

"Well, you might see someplace similar when you die." Zoro says.

"Not you; I don't think you're going anywhere good." Usopp bites out.

"You jerk!" Zoro growls making me giggle.

"You guys can keep discussing the afterlife; I'm gonna make a pot of coffee." Sanji says.

"Make dinner instead Sanji!" Luffy says.

"Have some coffee first and be patient!" Sanji snaps.

"Fiiiine…" Luffy moans, getting to his feet. "By the way, where are we?"

Suddenly, bright lights flash upon us and loud alarms begin to blare. The sound of yelling and running footsteps soon follow. Multiple spotlights shine on us revealing metal riggings and buildings with Marine symbols adorning them.

I whimper and deflate on Sanji's shoulder as we all proclaim the same reaction.

"...Shit…"

* * *

 **Accurate reaction XD**


	74. Infiltration

**Okay, kind of a short one here, but it's done!**

 **I would've added more but with school this week I had neither the time nor energy to go farther than this, so hopefully this weekend I'll be able to get back on my kick along with getting homework done. BRING IT ON, COLLEGE!**

 **In other news, QUICK PSA ANNOUNCEMENT!**

 **user TrashyVerse has created their own One Piece story involving Pika-chan and their own Pikachu OC called 'The Tale of Two Pikachus' so if you want something else to read, I implore you to check it out!**

 **Why am I telling you this? Because I'm extended this invitation to all you writers out there! If you want to write a One Piece story, you are MORE THAN WELCOME to include Pika-chan in them! You can make up original adventures, do reimagining's of scenes already in the story, make up AUs, and even take your own crack at what you think Pika-chan's backstory is! The sky's the limit!**

 **If you DO do this however, be sure to tell me so I can read and review! It's the least I can do for all the love and support you've shown me with this story!**

 **Okay, PSA over! Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

It's literally impossible for me to account what happened next.

I think we all just high tailed it off the boat in pure panic, because the next thing I knew, I was running around the halls of some huge building! I think I was with Chopper at some point in time, but hell if I remember! I just need someplace to hide! There are Marines everywhere!

I run down the empty hallway and skid to a halt; I hear footsteps! I start to run back when I realize that they're coming from the other way too! And there are no boxes or anything for me to hide behind! What do I do?!

I tug on my ears, glancing around in panic when I spy a vent right above the floor. Without thinking, I kick down the metal grate and scamper inside before replacing the grate. I watch with baited breath, peeking out of the grate as multiple feet appear right where I was originally standing.

"There's nothing here; keep looking!" A voice orders and the feet disperse.

I sigh in relief; that was too close! Now what do I do? I've got to find the others, but I have no idea where I even am! Well, one thing's for sure, I cannot afford to stay out in the halls.

I look around at the wide expanse of the vents I'm in, and surprisingly, I don't feel scared. That's probably because the vents are pretty light thanks to the other grates spread along the vents and there's constant air flowing through it. Not to mention that I can stand up straight in here; it's so big! I think I could use this to my advantage.

I start to run through the vents but I quickly realize that I can't just run around here aimlessly. All the vents look the same and so do all the hallways! I need some kind of trail marker! I place my paw on the wall of the vent and an idea springs to mind.

I focus and charge my electricity to my paw as much as I can. I fell my paw heat up greatly as electricity covers my paw. I hold it there for a few seconds, remove it, and lo and behold, there's a black pawprint burned onto the metal. Alrighty, now we can get somewhere!

I continue to navigate through the vents, leaving pawprints every now and then, but it still feels like I'm not getting anywhere. Everything looks the same, and I can't find any of my frie- oh wait. There's Chopper.

He's standing in front of a wide door and panicking like there's no tomorrow. Why? Because some Marines are heading right towards him. Well, I can't let that slide. I charge up electricity in my paws and point, getting ready for when they turn the corner. And when they do, I let loose, making them fall to the ground, with quite a few good burns.

Chopper blinks at the sight and remove the grate. I peek out and Chopper lights up, "Pika-chan!" He exclaims as softly as he can. "Thank you, you're amazing!"

I give him a wink and a thumbs up before replacing the grate. Chopper's right in front of a giant storage room, he'll be fine.

I keep moving through the vents for a good while. I see a good amount of soldiers patrolling the halls on high alert for us; guess I shouldn't be surprised. A Marine base this big would have to have good communication and organization.

I keep wandering for a good while, keeping an ear and eye out for any of my friends until a really good smell catches my nose. Food. And where there's food, it either means Sanji or Luffy are nearby. I listen and follow the smell and pick up their voices; sounds like both of them are nearby. Score!

I finally reach the area where the smell is most prominent. I peek through the grate and see that I'm back over the dining hall. Sanji and Luffy are standing in the middle of it and are surrounded by cooks wielding weapons on one side and a big-wig Marine on the other.

I can't help but feel a little uneasy; if they were surrounded by regular grunts it'd be one thing, but these are cooks! And I know from experience that cooks are not to be messed with! Sanji, Zeff, and everyone on the Baratie are prime examples of that! Plus, one of them is a girl, so they're really screwed here!

I've got to do something! They need some kind of distraction, something that will allow them to get out unseen. My eyes fall on the lights near me and a smirk comes to my face; I'm so glad I got this new power.

I remove the grate and peek out. Sanji catches me eye and I wink, holding my paw surrounded with lightning. Sanji lets a small smile grace his face and I reach out, charging up both my paws. I place them on the metal of the vents and let loose. Thin bolts of electricity dance along the metal until they reach their targets, and a second later, all the lights burst from overload, plunging the room into darkness.

I replace the grate and move as the room is plunged into chaos. I take off towards the nearest grate that gives off light and continue running, following the footsteps and voice of Luffy and Sanji.

"See you later fortress guys!" Luffy calls.

I sprint along the vents, easily keeping up with Luffy and Sanji until they finally skid to a stop to catch their breath.

"That was too close…" Sanji breathes as they both discard their disguises.

"The food was good though." Luffy points out.

"Is that all you think about?!" Sanji demands, "Now where's Pika-chan?"

I respond by kicking down the side grate and leaping out, "Pika pika!" I chirp with a salute.

"Hey, we found you!" Luffy exclaims.

I make a face, "Pikachu…" _'Uh no, **I** found **you**.'_

"C'mon Pika-chan! We've gotta find Zoro!" Luffy says and takes off.

"Luffy, don't just run off!" Sanji hisses. I shrug and run after them, Luffy yelling for Zoro the whole way.

We run aimlessly for a good while, and I take the lead after a while. My instincts are a lot better than Luffy's or Sanji's, so I can tell when someone is coming quicker so we won't have so many close calls. I keep my focus on making sure we aren't spotted, but that's difficult when the entire time, your crewmates are bickering like an old married couple.

Eventually we decide that the big isolated island in the middle of this crater is most likely where they're keeping Zoro and Usopp (oh yeah, did I forget to mention? He got caught too).

"It won't be easy getting there but we have to try." Sanji says.

"Okay!" Luffy exclaims when the door opens.

I spring into action, my eyes landing on a vent opening above us. I leap onto Sanji's head and leap up, grabbing it with my front paws and removing it. "Pika pika!" I whisper, gesturing for them to follow. Luffy grabs Sanji and leap into the vent before I replace the grate.

"This plan is already a pain in the neck…" Sanji mutters.

We watch as a lone Marine walks in, "Reporting in from Block F; nothing unusual to report." He says into a Mini Transponder Snail. No wonder they've been pinning us down so easily.

"Boy, secret missions are fun, huh?" Luffy whispered with a quiet laugh.

"Get a move on, Monkey Boy!" Sanji hisses.

I crawl in front of Luffy and lead the way, smelling and listening for air movement until we make it outside. I kick the grate off with my hind legs, peek out to make sure we're clear, and we leap down.

We climb a long flight of stairs, me still in the lead, but skid to a halt when we turn a corner, almost making Sanji trip over me. There's a whole bunch of Marines ahead!

"Looks like we're gonna have to fight our way through." Sanji says. I grimace; I really don't think that's a good idea. If we start a fight now they could easily call for reinforcements and overwhelm us with numbers! There's gotta be some way to sneak through, like under the bridge where it's completely empty-what?

I tug Sanji's pant leg and point to the underside of the bridge; sure enough, there are no guards whatsoever. "Good eyes, partner." Sanji says. "C'mon Luffy, that's our way in!"

"Okay!" Luffy says and we drop down to the underside. We make it across the bridge without any trouble and soon find the entrance to the island.

"C'mon, let's go!" Luffy urges.

"Hold on." Sanji says. "Let's think this through; the underside of the bridge was completely unguarded. There's something fishy going on…" Yeah, he's right; this is a little too easy, even for us.

"I know." Luffy holds up a finger. "The boss of the fortress is a nice guy!"

Sanji kicks him in the face, "They're planning to trap us, moron." He says. "We'll be walking right into a jail cell."

"So what?" Luffy asks, getting to his feet. "We won't get any rescuing done if we just sit here."

"Are you saying we should run straight into a trap?!" Sanji demands when he suddenly starts chewing his cigarette. He only does that when he's thinking.

"Sanji?" Luffy asks after a moment of silence, "It's not such a bad idea."

"Yes it is!" Sanji exclaims as we start running towards the entrance.

"But you like it, don't you?" Luffy asks with a grin.

"No I don't!" Sanji responds. Well, it's the only plan we got, so let's do this!

I go up to the door first and nudge it open with my tail. My instincts stay quiet and I don't hear or smell anything; we're clear. We run into the building and Luffy starts screaming at the top of his lungs, "HEEEEEY! ZORO! USOPP! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

A few seconds later, we get a response from Usopp, "Hey! Luffy, down here!"

Alright, we found 'em! "Pikachu!" I exclaim, a spring in my step.

"Hear something?" Luffy asks.

"Pika!" I respond.

"Alright! Hurry!" Luffy exclaims.

Just then, I hear another response, "No! Turn back!" Usopp yells. Guess he must know about the trap. "Rescue us if you want to!" I think that goes without saying.

We descend a bunch of stairs until we're in an underground tunnel lit by lanterns. In a matter of moments, we find the cell where Usopp and Zoro are cuffed inside. "Hold on!" Luffy says, grasping the bars, "I'll get you out of here…" He trails off and slumps to the ground.

Usopp yelps in horror, "The bars are Sea Prism stone!" Of course they are…

"We've been waiting for you!" We turn to see that both sides of the tunnel are blocked by a horde of Marines, each led by a commander. Guess this is their trap. I stand at the ready to fight, sparks flying from my cheeks, when I hear a loud clang. I look behind me to see Sanji trying to kick down the door to Zoro and Usopp's cell.

"Oh this is good." One of the commander's remarks, "It would take nothing less than a cannon to break those bars." Yeah, I figured that Sea Prism wasn't something you could break so easily. I don't think even my Iron Tail could break it.

"Wait, Sanji!" Usopp says, springing to his feet, "I think I have an idea!"

"What is it?" Sanji asks.

"Reach into my pocket; I have an Impact Dial in there!" Usopp says, moving closer to the bars. My ears perk up.

"Wait, an Impact?" Sanji asks. "Aren't those supposed to hurt?"

"Yeah, but this is no time to be a wimp!" Usopp responds. "Just do it!"

Sanji grimaces and pulls the dial out of Usopp's pocket. Hey, be glad it's not a Reject Dial.

"This is your last warning!" One of the commander's yells.

"Shut up, gorilla man." Sanji responds, holding up the Dial. "I've got something here you might find interesting." He kneels down and places the Dial on the bottom half of the cage. "Get ready."

Usopp back away from the bars, I take a step back, Sanji pushes the apex and…!

 _'What? This well-mannered snake?'_ Usopp's recorded voice comes out of the shell.

Sanji turns bright red while I smack my forehead and drag my paw down my face. "You moron." Zoro grumbles, while the rest of the Marines look on in pure confusion.

"Was that your super awesome secret weapon? Cause it's kinda lame." One of the commander's remarks.

Sanji gets up and sends him a death glare, "Shut up or I'll gut you." The commander smartly shuts up; yeah, when Sanji gets mad he means every word he says.

"I forgot, it's in my other pocket." Usopp says sheepishly, moving back to the door.

Sanji growls under his breath and pulls out the correct Dial. Usopp and I back away and Sanji places the shell in position and pushes the apex.

There's an explosion alright, but not the one you're thinking of.

My eyes widen and immediately start to water as the worst stench ever fills the entire area in a split second. Everyone just about doubles over from the smell, and I let out a cry, covering my nose and mouth with both my paws. Having a sensitive nose is the worst sometimes!

"What kind of juvenile barbarian would store a fart in my Odor Dial?" Usopp rasps.

"I thought...it would be funny…" Luffy moans, now suffering from both Sea Prism stone and the smell.

"Why did I even ask?" Usopp chokes.

I try desperately not to breathe when I spy Sanji looking up at one of the lamps. I follow his gaze and realize that the flame is flickering. "Watch out! It's gonna blow!" Sanji yells.

My eyes widen and my mind goes a mile a minute. My body starts to move on its own as I yank Luffy away from the bars and pull him over to Sanji. Just as the flames begin to grow, I tap into my energy on pure instinct. I have no idea what's going on with me but I hope it pays off!

I squeeze my eyes shut and I feel my raw power expand around me and my friends. I open my eyes revealing them to be glowing yellow and the lamps all blow up one by one. I close my eyes again as the whole area shakes and I wince as the area becomes warm and I feel some things fall on or bounce off me. Well, it doesn't hurt, so that's good.

After what feels like forever, the explosions die down and I slowly open my eyes only to have them widen. I'm surrounded by a strange yellow cube; it's shiny and looks like it's made of light.

Hold up...is this a shield? I can make shields?!

I look up to see pieces of debris are lying and leaning on the cube. It _is_ a shield!

"Pika-chan?" I look around me to see that Luffy and Sanji are inside my tiny cube as well, a bit squished but otherwise unharmed. Luffy's still a bit out of it, but Sanji is looking at me incredulously. I kept Sanji and Luffy from being blown up or crushed!

I draw my attention back to the shield and concentrate once again. The cube disappears, pushing all the debris on top away safely. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding; that was certainly too close for comfort!

"You're just full of surprises aren't you?" Sanji says along with a sigh of relief.

"Pika pika!" I chirp happily, looking down at my body. First the shooting lightning from my paws and now this? It's like I've been given one giant upgrade!

"Hey! Are you two okay?" Sanji calls, making me tense. Oh geez, I wasn't able to shield Zoro and Usopp!

"M-Mission...accomplished…" Usopp groans.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that…" Zoro grunts.

I'm suddenly lifted off the ground by a now perked up Luffy and he's staring at me excitedly. "You can make shields!" He exclaims. "Why didn't you tell us before? That is so cool!" Why do you think I didn't tell you? It just came to me out of the blue!

"You can stare at the rodent later." Zoro says, getting his swords and tossing Usopp his bag. "Let's get out of here!"

Luffy nods and puts me down, "Alright! Everybody run!"

We all bolt out of the brig and back into the hallway. "Wait, don't let Zoro lead! He'll just get us lost!" Usopp yells.

"Shut up!" Zoro snaps. I let out a laugh along with Luffy. We run for a while when we realize that we aren't getting near a door. Wasn't it just a straight shot to the front door?

"I told you; now we're lost!" Usopp yells.

"Where are we?" Sanji asks.

"How do you get lost going to the front door?! Isn't that impossible?!" Usopp demands.

"Pika pikachu." _'Apparently not, in Zoro's case.'_

"I said shut up!" Zoro bites back.

We keep running until we reach a four way hallway where we find ourselves being charged by Marines from all sides. This should be fun. "Gum Gum Gatling!" Luffy yells and easily knocks down the wall of men in front of us and we run for the door.

Now we just gotta find the others, get to the ship and we'll be home free! How hard could this be?

* * *

 **Congratulations! Your Pika-chan remembered Light Screen! And yes! It is getting a FULL REVAMP!**

 **Light Screen in the games is pretty straightforward, but the anime has always been inconsistent, so I went with the design from the Sinnoh season (watch Ash's and Paul's battle at Lake Acuity for reference)**

 **But anyway! Since there are no Pokémon around this world, I decided to let this give me a bit more freedom with what Light Screen can do. In this case with the explosion, it basically works the same as the game: It weakens special attacks. So when Pika-chan put it up, it still kinda felt the explosion, but not much.**

 **And when Pika-chan forces other people into its one cube, they are completely shielded but Pika-chan still endures the weakened attack. If Pika-chan did the regular version where it surrounds the whole team with Light Screen, then its crewmates will feel the halved damage.**

 **Does that make sense? I feel like it will make more sense when Pika-chan gets to use it more often. Just ask if you're confused ;)**


	75. Escape?

**I just read One Piece chapter 840 and OH MY GOD I AM ABOUT TO EXPLODE WITH ANGER!**

 **Let's just say that when Pika-chan gets there, it will RIOT! Blood will spill, bodies will liter the streets, storm clouds and hurricanes will lay waste to the land, and the enemy shall know Pika-chan as the Lord as it lays its vengeance upon them! (seriously, I cannot WAIT to get to the current arc)**

* * *

Of course, after we make it outside, everything goes to shit.

First Luffy provoked the big-wig of this fortress, almost getting us blown up by a canon, and now we have to fight our way back across the bridge so we can find the others. The underside of the bridge is guarded to the teeth and the top is unguarded, obviously a trap.

Well, I've been kinda itching for a fight lately, so I guess this could work in my favor. Let's spring it.

As we run across the top of the bridge I can sense little snippets of movement all over the place. Safe to say they're planning to surround us. And that's just what they do. A whole bunch of Marines spring out from hiding places and block off both sides of the bridge; there are even soldiers up in the rafters!

But these Marines are different; they're all really tall and muscular. I guess these are the ones that specialize in fighting; I'm surprised we don't see more of these guys out on the water.

They charge and four guys leap right over the railing for us. I quickly duck and scamper away easily, heading for the first tower; may as well take out the peanut gallery so we don't regret it later.

I easily scale the tower and charge up as I go until lightning is surrounding both my paws at super high voltage. Time to make the most out of my new move. I place my paws on the metal and release the electricity, making the lightning easily climb the metal.

I can't help but shiver in satisfaction as I hear multiple yells of pain one by one as my lightning climbs the metal, making burnt bodies of Marines fall to the ground or leave them hanging on the rafters.

Man, I love this move! I never thought I'd be grateful to Eneru for giving it to me!

I take a look around to see how the others are faring. Usopp is on the other metal tower and is making use of his Impact Dial and Sanji's kicking everyone in sight, but Zoro and Luffy don't look like they're doing too well.

"Up there!" I look down as I see a few other Marines gathering at the base of my tower. "Get that rat!"

I frown as they start to climb up to me, and I charge up again. I let loose a basic electrical attack and easily take them down. Now to take care of the others. I charge up and take aim at a particularly big pirate who's headbutting the crap out of Zoro and give him a good electric attack. The man drops Zoro and Zoro takes care of him from there.

"Hey, Pika-chan!" My ears twitch as I hear Luffy. "Gimme some lightning!" I turn to see Luffy, his arms stretched out after having just done a Gum Gum Bazooka. I see the problem; the Marines have grabbed onto his arms and are being pulled right to him!

I take a flying leap off the tower and charge up, hitting Luffy with a good bolt of lightning. The men all yell and pull away from Luffy as their hands and arms receive nasty burns and Luffy grins. "Alright! Now Gum Gum…" I land just as Luffy's leg stretches up. "Battle Axe!" My ears droop; this won't end well…

There's a loud crash as Luffy's foot slams onto the bridge, causing the whole thing to shake. The next thing I know, we're all falling towards the water below along with the other Marines. I look out of the corner of my eye and spy a piece of metal jutting out from the part of bridge Luffy didn't directly smash. Well, guess I better do my part!

"Pika!" I yell, catching Sanji's attention. I reach towards him and he lifts a hand towards me. I latch onto his arm with my whole body and ready my tail. I latch it onto the jutted metal bar and brace.

The weight comes in short bursts as Sanji's full weight is held by my tail. He then manages to grab Zoro's hand as the swordsman caught on to our maneuver at the last second. Zoro then grabs Usopp by his bag strap and Usopp grabs Luffy by the ankle, and to top it off, Luffy stretches his hand to grab his fallen hat and keep it out of the water. Good, everyone's safe; now I can focus on how much this hurts!

"That was too close…" Usopp breathes.

"You never think things through, do you?" Sanji growls at Luffy.

"Sorry!" Luffy says.

"Chu…" I groan, trying desperately to ignore the pain in my tail and my body.

"You doing okay, partner?" Sanji asks his voice a tad strained from holding Zoro, Usopp and Luffy's weight.

I manage to open one eye and grin, "Pika…" _'I'll live…'_ I say before going back to concentrating; c'mon Pika-chan, work through the pain!

"Luffy, can you grab the other side of the bridge?" Zoro asks.

"Sure." Luffy says and stretches towards the other side. He latches on and everyone looks at me.

"Okay Pika-chan, let go." Sanji says. I nod and manage to unhook my tail. Sanji pulls me to his chest and we swing under the bridge and spring right back up and onto dry land. I sigh and deflate in relief, waving my tail around, trying to loosen the cramps it now has. My tail will be as strong as Sea Prism stone if this keeps up! I'm surprised it hasn't snapped right off yet!

"That was close…" Usopp breathes.

"So, where are the docks?" Zoro asks.

"That way." Usopp says pointing.

"Awesome! Let's go!" Luffy exclaims, taking off.

"Hey, wait up!" Usopp yells, following him.

I move to sit on Sanji's shoulder as they run and we make it into the building, through a long empty hallway. "Are you sure it's this way?" Zoro asks; dude, you should not be asking that question.

"Yeah, it's just around the corner!" Usopp says, taking the lead.

We finally make into the end of the hallway and find ourselves at the docks; but that's not all. There are Marines everywhere, armed to the teeth and taking aim at us. I slowly sink down so I'm behind Sanji's shoulder; this could get ugly. The front row of soldiers wielding rifles take aim and fire, and I leap down from Sanji as he and Zoro move beside Luffy to fight.

"Gum Gum Balloon!" Luffy yells, inflating so big that he knocks Zoro and Sanji aside.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sanji and Zoro demand once he deflates. But they don't have time to argue as the next row steps up, all of the wielding bazookas. Oh crap...maybe I should try out that shield thing I did before…

I look up as the bazookas fire, but the warheads fall to the ground at our feet. "Duds?" Luffy asks.

We all cringe as a flash suddenly emerges from them and white hot smoke envelops us. I shut my eyes with a squeal of pain as the smoke makes my eyes water. "Those were flash bombs!" Usopp yells.

I rub my eyes but it doesn't make it any better; this stuff stings like there's no tomorrow! I can't see Luffy, Sanji, or anybody! My ears twitch as I suddenly hear footsteps, and I instinctively activate Brick Break. I give it a swing and I hit flesh and hear the scream of a random soldier. I land and quickly only focus on my hearing; if I keep this up I should be able to defend myself, but I won't risk using lightning here. I can hear the others going to town so I guess there's no need to worry.

I activate Iron Tail and take down a few more soldiers, keeping my eyes closed as the pain slowly waters out of them. After a while, I manage to open my eyes successfully, but there's still a lot of smoke clouding our view of the dock and the ship. I find myself near Zoro and Sanji when I hear Luffy, "Gum Gum Whip!"

My ears twitch from the movement and my eyes widen in alarm. I take a my tail and sweep it under Zoro and Sanji, making them fall flat on their backs, but narrowly avoiding Luffy's leg.

The whip clears the smoke and Luffy laughs, "That was fun!"

"Watch where you kick next time!" Sanji growls from the floor.

"Sorry."

Sanji then turns on Zoro, "Now, what did you say to me?" I roll my eyes; this really isn't a good time…

"FIRE!"

My ears twitch as I hear the commander yell and I look up to see someone aiming a bazooka right at Luffy. I run towards him only to feel something hit me and make me slam right into Luffy. We roll across the floor until we hit the wall, a net wrapped tightly around us.

"Luffy!"

"Pika-chan!" The others make to move towards us.

"Stay right where you are!" The Marine commander yells. "It says Dead or Alive on your Wanted Posters, but at G8 we lean towards alive. But if you insist on showing resistance I'll be forced to amend that policy." Oh great…

"Luffy, Pika-chan, you've gotta try harder to get out!" Usopp says.

Luffy and I start to struggle, but this thing is super constricting. "I'm trying!" Luffy grunts. "And I'm all worn out…" I grab the net and start to chew on it, but this stuff is like metal; I can't even dent it!

"Sea Prism stone…" Zoro growls. I continue to try and chew through the net as the Marines all take aim at us. Great, now what do we do?!

There's a loud scream, a crash, and Usopp goes flying. We all turn to see a wheeled stretcher with a figure under the cloth, and two nurses, one of which is very familiar. Hey Nami and Chopper, what took you guys so long?

"Usopp!" Chopper screams as he sees Usopp, passed out and banged up on the ground. He turns to Heavy Point and picks him up. "Look what they've done to him! He could die and it's all because of those soldiers!"

Uh no, I think you guys just really rammed him with that stretcher. Speaking of which, there's a lady with glasses and purple hair standing next to Nami; who is she?

"Identify yourselves!" The Marine commander yells.

I cringe as the other nurse lady lets out an ear piercing scream; you can almost see the sound waves it's so loud! "We've been taken hostage, we're gonna die!" She screams. "Please help, it wasn't our fault! We were taken here against our will!"

My still ringing ears droop; what is going on? I cover my ears as tight as I can as Nami joins in on her screaming, saying that Chopper is holding them hostage...ooooh, I get it!

"Listen up!" Chopper yells, turning around with Usopp over his shoulder. "I'm a rough and tough pirate; even crying babies shut up when they see me!" He glares at the Marines looking as menacing as he can. "Now, you better do exactly as I say or these hostages are doomed!"

I can't help but be impressed; he's really selling this performance! Props, man!

"Order your buffoons to stand down and let us board our ship!" Chopper yells. The men all tense and hesitate. "Do it!" Chopper nearly roars. "Or all snap these girls' necks like twigs and they're blood will be on your hands!"

"I'd do what he says." Zoro remarks with a grin. "The snapping necks thing can get pretty messy." I can't help but grin as the Marine commander looks close to blowing a gasket.

"How would it look if you, the righteous arm of justice, let two innocent women die?" Sanji asks slyly. Damn! Everyone's selling this like pros! We should do this more often!

"Chopper, what are you doing?" Luffy moans. My eyes widen and I clap my paws over Luffy's mouth; the last thing we need is to be compromised here!

The commander continues to shake with rage until he finally speaks, "Fine, you win!" He says. "Lower your weapons and withdraw!" The men all look at him with shock but all hesitantly comply.

"Wow, they actually complied." Sanji says with surprise.

"Let's hope so." Zoro says softly. He then approaches Luffy and I and gives his sword a good swing, cutting the net open with ease. I scamper out and Zoro helps Luffy to his feet while the soldiers make a clear path to the Merry.

"We have complied to your demands; now release the hostages." The commander says.

Nami elbows Chopper and he puts his mean face back on. "You don't give the orders here!" Chopper barks. "These women will be released only after we've escaped!" Nice!

"We won't stop you; you're free to go!" The commander says.

"Very accommodating." Zoro comments. "But is it true?" We all start to slowly make our way towards the ship. As we walk, my ears twitch ever so slightly; someone's moving back there.

"Nami, Chopper, Rodent, lover-boy." Zoro says under his breath. "Run to the ship when I give the signal." He says, before muttering something to Luffy. Guess he felt that movement too.

"Pika-chan; up." Sanji whispers to me. I quickly comply and leap onto his shoulder. The tension continues to rise when-

 _Clack!_

We all stop and turn as a soldier dropped their rifle.

"You scared us half to death!" Nami exclaims, when my ears twitch. I look just in time to see a soldier grab the nurse lady and drag her into the horde of Marines. Nami screams as another tried to grab her and give him a hard punch; oh yeah, they think she's a hostage!

"Make a run for the ship!" Zoro orders. The Marines all start to charge us when the Merry suddenly begins to move. We all watch as she starts to slide down the ramp and into the water; how did that happen?

"Alright! All aboard!" Luffy calls, his arm stretching out. I brace myself and cling to Sanji as Luffy literally sweeps us up and throws us onto the ship. The Merry slides all the way into the water and starts to move away from the docks. The Marines start to fire at us but they only hit the water; they must still think Nami's a hostage.

"It worked, we did it!" Luffy cheers when he's slammed by both Nami and Sanji; sheesh, Mom and Dad show no mercy to the kids…

"Forgive me Captain, my gratitude's lacking now." Sanji growls.

"Give a girl some warning next time!" Nami snaps. "Alright everyone, look alive!"

We all start to run around and start sailing to wherever the exit may be as sirens begin to ring all around the fortress. Probably won't be long before they start firing. "Why are we hugging the side?" Zoro remarks.

"Protection; we'd have cannons blasting us on both sides if we went through the middle!" Nami answers.

"By the way, nice touch with the hostage thing, Nami!" Usopp comments.

"Thank you!" Nami says with a smile. "It was pretty good!"

"You were always good at tricking people!" Usopp agrees, earning a pound on the head.

My ears suddenly twitch and I sigh; Sanji Alert.

"Nami dressed as a nurse is pure magic!" Sanji croons, wiggling around and oozing heart. I point at him and shoot a small bolt at him, making him fall on his back; good to know I no longer have to make the effort to be close to him for his therapy.

"Well, we escaped, but what good are we without maps or charts of this place?" Nami comments. "What do we do now?"

Sanji suddenly springs back to his feet like nothing happened, "Robin!" He exclaims. We all look to see our archeologist swinging towards us on a rope of her arms. Good to know she made it out okay.

"Hello everyone." She greets once she lands. "I see you succeeded in getting the ship back."

"Heya Robin!" Luffy greets, "Where have you been?"

"Around." Robin answers vaguely, "And I found something that our navigator might find useful." She hands Nami a large roll of paper and Nami unfolds it.

"A map of the fortress!" Nami squeals, looking over the paper before giving Robin a look of pure gratitude, "You're amazing, Robin! You just gave us a way to escape!"

"Good." Robin says with a smile when the ship suddenly rocks.

"They're firing at us!" Luffy exclaims as cannons splash into the water around us.

"I thought they wouldn't shoot because we had a hostage!" Usopp protests.

"Well, it was only a matter of time I guess." Nami remarks with a shrug.

Usopp looks behind us as his eyes widen, "Did we also know that they'd send warships after us?!" I leap onto the railing next to him and see that he's right; great, just peachy! Chopper manages to steer us safely round the cannons until we turn a corner where a large metal gate is waiting.

"Alright, there's our exit; the sea gate!" Nami calls, getting her game face on. "Usopp, prepare the bow cannon! And Chopper, be sure to follow my orders exactly!"

"Right!" Chopper chimes in.

"That gate is the only way out, so we'll have to blast through!" Nami says. "But I don't get why there's a port here; the water's too shallow…"

"Bad news guys!" Usopp suddenly says. "We don't have any cannonballs! They've all disappeared!" I gape; are you kidding me?!

"We don't have any at all? Are you sure?" Nami demands.

"Not a one!" Usopp says shaking his head.

"That's not very surprising considering they confiscated the Going Merry." Robin remarks. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that.

"But what do we do?" Usopp asks. "We can't bust through that gate without some serious firepower!"

"We can, but we have to be smart about it." Zoro says.

I smirk and smack his leg with my tail, "Pika pikachu chu." _'Guess that leaves you out of the equation.'_

Zoro glares down at me, a vein popping on his head; guess he got the message that I was insulting him.

Sanji softly snorts, "All we have to do is gain control of that Gate House." He says before giving me a small thumbs up. "Sick burn, partner."

Hey! He understood me again! I never thought we would be able to communicate through insulting Zoro, but I love it! I return the thumbs up with a grin while Zoro growls under his breath. "Damn rodent…"

"Stop saying that like it will be easy!" Usopp yells.

"It will be!" Luffy pipes up. "Because I have a great idea!" Oh, this oughta be good.

As we draw closer to the gate, a bunch of cannons take aim and fire at us. Luffy leaps into the air, "Gum Gum Balloon!" He inflates and easily catches all the cannonballs; oh yeah, how do I keep forgetting this?

Luffy hits the sails from the impact, but still manages to send the cannonballs flying. They all hit the gate with a loud boom, and the area lights up with fire as the explosion rocks the water.

"It worked!" Usopp cheers.

"That's one way to do it!" Nami adds.

Yeah, who needs cannonballs when we always get them for free? But wait...if they took all the cannonballs…

I feel the color drain from my face as I discreetly make my way to the storage room. _'Please be there, please be there, please be there…'_ I inwardly plead as I open the door a crack and peek inside.

My face draws in terror; the room is completely empty! Everything's gone...including - I swallow - our gold. Oh man...Nami is not going to be happy...but we're so close to getting out of here! But...when she finds out later that we escaped a heavily guarded fortress and forgot our gold…

I shake where I stand as I imagine all the possible scenarios, most of them involving the Merry being completely torn apart and all of us bearing bruises and broken limbs while sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

I gulp and nod; it's better to tell her now.

I move away from the door and look up at Nami, "Pi...Pika?" I call.

Nami looks down at me, "What's up?"

I give her a scared and frantic expression, "Pika pikachu." I say, pointing towards the storage.

Nami looks at me in confusion and realization slowly dawns on her face. I step away and cringe as her shriek pierces the air. She vaults right over the railing and flings the door to storage open.

"Nami, what's wrong?" Usopp asks frantically.

"We've been had!" Nami wails. "My treasure!"

I sigh and grimace at the sight; our luck just never seems to be with us.

* * *

 **Alright, almost there! Just one more chapter and then it'll be everyone's favorite time: MOVIE TIME! 8DDDD**


	76. Spy

**Alright! Time to wrap this filler arc up and get moving to the next part! And boy oh boy, am I looking forward to it *rubs hands together***

* * *

"Turn around! Full reverse!" Nami yells. "Don't just stand there; those goons stole all our gold!"

"Are you nuts?" Zoro demands.

"In case you haven't noticed, we nearly got killed breaking out of that place! Zoro's right, you've gone crazy!" Usopp adds. Guys, do you really think you can win this argument? "I'm quite sane right now, thank you!" Nami snaps. I look away and make a face; whenever there's treasure involved, she's never sane.

"We can't just break out of here without our hard-earned gold! It'd be pointless!" Nami adds. "We're pirates; wouldn't leaving gold behind be the worst thing a pirate could do?!"

"Wow, whenever money's involved, Nami gets really serious." Chopped muses. You're just noticing that now?

"I love that side of Nami too!" Sanji swoons.

I softly groan and shoot a bolt at him from my paw; I am so done with this shit…

* * *

It was an Arceus damned miracle that we were able to sneak back into the depths of the fortress without getting caught. Good thing all that smoke from the explosion we caused made a good cover, and with the gate being destroyed we can easily sail out of here once we get our gold back.

Thanks to Robin, we found out that this place, despite it being huge, has actually been downsized, so there are tons of shut down and abandoned docks and harbors for us to hide. Using the map, it doesn't take long for us to find one and tuck the Merry safely inside.

Once we were docked, we all met inside the galley to decide our next move. "What do we do now?" Usopp asks.

"I say we make a break for it while we still have a chance." Zoro says.

"Yeah, those Marines mean business." Usopp agrees. "It's a shame we have to leave the gold behind, but our lives are more important."

"You're the Captain, Luffy," Chopper pipes up. "What do you think we should do?"

Luffy slumps over the table, "We need to get our gold," He says tiredly. "But I need something to eat first."

I roll my eyes and growl loudly from my spot in the middle of the table; this day has been one disaster after another and the stupid quirks from these humans aren't helping!

"Alright, I'll whip something up." Sanji says, getting up. "With some decent food in our bellies, maybe we can think clearly and appease our grumpy mouse." A vein pops on my head as I shoot Sanji a sharp glare, while everyone sweatdrops nervously; I guess I'm really fuming right now.

"So let me get this straight," Nami starts. "You guys are totally okay with leaving our gold behind?" Everyone nods and I feel my bad mood grow; why are humans so damn stubborn?!

Nami shrugs, "That's too bad, cause treasure is always divided up." She says. "Even after splitting we'd have way more gold than we know what to do with; think of all the stuff we could've bought!"

That gets everyone back onboard for getting our treasure back; even I have to admit, even though I'd most likely find the gold useless, it would be nice to actually have a decent amount of money so we don't go broke again.

"Alright then," Nami says with a grin. "But first, I take an extra cut: 80%."

Everyone slams their hands on the table and I face her in shock, "Are you nuts?!"

"Pika?!"

"Relax, it's not for me." Nami says, waving her hands.

"Oh yeah, who?" Usopp challenges.

Nami smiled, "It's for a very special lady." I tilt my head in confusion. "We're going to set aside the gold for the repairs we need to make."

My ears perk up and I suddenly feel my grumpiness dissipate; she wants the gold back...so we can fix the Merry?

"Isn't it time we paid Merry back for everything she's done for us?" Nami asks.

"Now that you mention it, the Merry has carried us for a long time." Usopp agrees.

Nami nods, her face becoming wistful, "We've had a lot of adventures, and made lots of memories." You can say that again.

I smile softly as I remember when I first laid eyes on this ship, all the way back when Luffy accidentally tossed me out to sea and Usopp and Zoro were trying to sneak into Arlong Park. At first I thought it was the silliest looking ship I've ever seen; I never imagined that ship would become my home.

At first, I thought the Baratie would always be my home until my memory came back, but Merry...she's given us all the opportunity to chase our dreams, a chance for me to get my memories back and find my real home.

I've said before that Merry was a trooper and I stand by that fact. She's made it through countless storms, the Calm Belt, the Dead End race, Reverse Mountain, and has even flown all the way up to the ocean in the sky.

 _'Don't let the whole 'amnesia' thing get you down Tiny; you've got some pretty sweet **new** memories right here.'_

"Now that I think about it, this ship's been through a lot for us." Luffy says.

"That's why it's time we give her some tender loving care." Nami says.

"Good idea." Usopp says.

"Let's do it!" Luffy agrees.

"Pika!" I agree with a nod.

"Then it's settled." Nami says with a nod, "And since we don't know how much the repairs will be, we'll hold off on dividing the gold until we do." Sounds good to me; and knowing how many times this poor ship's been torn apart, I think it's safe to say that it won't be cheap.

Sanji serves us all tea and a plate full of tiny meat appetizers and sandwiches, and we all dig in. "I was wondering how long Usopp's half-assed repairs were gonna last." Zoro comments, chewing on a hunk of meat.

"Hey, I'm a sniper, not a shipwright!" Usopp retorts.

"Yeah, it's time we take the Merry to a real shipyard with real shipwrights to give her the repairs she deserves." Sanji agrees. I nod, munching on my sandwich; the whole 'patches of wood on the hull' thing we have going isn't going to work forever.

"That's it!" Luffy stands suddenly. "We need to get a shipwright to join our crew! Our journey's long from over right?" We nod. "We really need someone with those skills." We nod again. "And the Merry's not just our ship, she's our home too! So let's find us a shipwright who can keep the Merry safe!" And with that, Luffy sits down and goes back to his tea.

"Wow, I'm impressed." Sanji says.

"He got to the point." Zoro agrees. Yeah, I was expecting him to ask Sanji for some more meat or something.

"We should get a musician too!" Ah, there we go. For a second there I thought we stumbled into the Twilight Zone.

"The shipwright thing is a great idea, but aren't you forgetting something?" Nami says. "We have to get our gold back!"

"Well, do we have any idea where they've taken it?" Zoro asks.

"To a vault, probably." Usopp answers.

"Well duh!" Sanji snarks. "But we have no idea where that vault is!"

"I'd say here." We all look up to see Robin pointing to the map of the fortress, pointing to a specific spot. "If I were to hide gold, this multi lock storage room sounds like the ideal place."

We all perk up. "You're right!" Nami exclaims.

"You're so smart!" Sanji croons, earning a small zap from me.

"But what do we do about the Merry?" Usopp asks.

"Hide a tree in a forest, so hide a big ship among big ships." Luffy says solemnly. We all stare at him before wilting in exasperation.

"So that's your big plan…" Zoro mutters.

"I think I liked you better when you weren't so serious…" Sanji says.

"Well, we are at a dock where ships were constructed and repaired." Robin speaks up. "When we entered, I noticed an abundance of abandoned supplies."

Usopp grins, "Say...that gives me an idea…"

* * *

"Well, what do you think?" Usopp asks as we all stand back and admire our work.

"Gluing paper all over the Merry to disguise it; what a great idea." Zoro says flatly. I can't help but make a face and tilt my head slightly; is this really gonna work? I mean, I know Marines usually aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, but...

"It looks like a three year old did it." Sanji comments. Yeah, that.

"It's fine!" Luffy says. "It looks just like one of the warships!"

"Great! Operation Gold Recovery commences at midnight!" Nami announces.

"Um, why don't we go right now?" Chopper asks.

"Well...because secret missions are way better at midnight!" Luffy answers.

"Oh! I get it!" Chopper says.

We hang around for awhile until we finally decide to head out. Wait...we're just gonna go without a plan? Granted, I should be used to this but...

"Wait up you guys," Usopp speaks up. "Shouldn't we come up with some sort of plan first?" Oh, thank Arceus for the Wielder of Common Sense!

Everyone looks at each other without saying anything and Usopp sighs, "Great, we're off to a successful start…"

"Pika…" I agree from my spot beside him, my ears drooping.

"Don't you think those Marines will notice seven people wandering around their fortress? We don't all have the stealth skills that Pika-chan has." Usopp points out. I blush from the sudden compliment. "And I'm still worried about the Merry, even though we did disguise her pretty well." Usopp adds.

Sanji nods, "Yeah, it won't fool them for long."

"It won't? Why not?" Chopper asks.

"Yeah, it looks real!" Luffy protests.

I smack my forehead in exasperation; I'm so glad we had food earlier, because I think my tolerance would've reached zero by this point.

"That's not the issue here!" Usopp says. "Honestly, am I the only one in this crew who thinks about the important things?"

I smile and tap Usopp's leg in sympathy, "Pika pikachu."

Usopp sends me a smile before getting serious again, "Which reminds me; Nami!" He points to her suddenly. "What happened to the Waver?"

Nami blinks, "Oh crap! I forgot; I hid it in some tall grass!"

"Do you see what I mean?" Usopp asks, shaking his head.

"Nami, you're so cute when you're forgetful!" Sanji croons, earning another lightning bullet from my paw.

"All stupidity aside…" Usopp says, giving Sanji a look, "I think it's time I explain my plan to you guys."

Usopp lays out the map of the fortress and we all gather around, me perched on Usopp's shoulder. He plans for us to be divided into two teams, one to get the gold and other to get the Waver. The ones getting the gold will be Luffy, Zoro, Robin and Usopp while Sanji and Nami get the Waver, leaving Chopper with the ship.

But...wait a minute! "Pika pika?" I ask, pointing to myself.

"Ah yes, don't worry I haven't forgotten about you." Usopp says, lightly tapping my nose with his pointer. He picks me off his shoulder and holds me in front of him, "You, my little buddy, have the key role in this operation."

My eyes widen in surprise and curiosity; what kind of key role? "Pi?"

"I said before, you're the best we have at sneaking around." Usopp goes on. "So you're going to be our spy on the inside." He grins. "You're going to do what you do best, sneak around and listen for any useful information these Marines might have."

My face brightens; I get it! And if I hear anything suspicious or anything I'll relay it back to the team!

"Alright, here's the deal." Usopp says, placing me on the map. "We're going to send you in first, while the rest of us wait on the coast." He says, pointing to the vault area. "Gather as much information as you can, and report back to us in fifteen minutes and signal whether it's safe for us." I nod in understanding.

"But how can Pika-chan signal you without getting caught?" Chopper asks.

"We'll use it's electricity of course." Usopp says. "Just a short flash is all we need; can you do that?"

I put a paw to my chin in thought when my eyes land on my tail. I stand on all fours and focus my electricity to surround it, making my appendage light up with electricity. I surge my lightning a bit, making my tail blink with electricity on and off like a lightbulb.

"Perfect!" Usopp exclaims. "Signal us with that once your fifteen minutes are up. One flash means 'yes', twice means 'no', and three flashes means 'danger' or 'get out'. Understand?" I nod firmly; easy enough to remember.

"Alright, teams!" Usopp says, standing up. "Let's complete our missions and meet back at the Merry."

"Yeah!"

"Pika!"

* * *

Sneaking along the coast wasn't that hard. Thanks to Robin's extra eyes we were able to get around without any trouble. I'm not worried about us getting caught. I'm more worried about Sanji and Nami; they're alone together in a little boat and I'm not there to knock some sense into that love-sick moron. Well, at least I know he'll snap out of it if Nami gets threatened.

We eventually arrive at the right area on a cliff, right across from another entrance to the fortress.

"Is that it?" Usopp asks.

"If the map is correct, yes." Robin says. "It shouldn't be hard for a small creature like Pikachu to break into."

Usopp nods, "Alright, let's do it guys!" He looks down at me. "Ready Pika-chan?"

"Pika!" I say, with a determined salute.

Luffy picks me up and I hold on tight. "Gum Gum…" Luffy stretches his arm back as far as he can. "Slingshot!"

I brace myself, and I'm launched through the air. I soar over the water and I manage to land on the stairwell near the big metal door. Okay, my fifteen minutes starts now. Going in the big door is out of the question, so I'll just have to settle with the normal door. I peek through the window, finding the coat clear, and slip inside. I spy a vent almost instantly, and scamper into it; now to get some intel.

I run through the vents for a good while, not really getting anything from the Marines on guard in the hall. But I eventually find some vents that seem to lead down further into the building. Maybe this is where the vault is?

I keep wandering when I suddenly hear voices, and they're not coming from the outside. It sounds like...they're in the vents with me. I continue on slowly, keeping my ears peeled until the voices become clearer.

"Stay alert men." I hear. "The Straw Hats should be coming through here soon." A trap; I should've figured as much. But I wonder why they're hiding in the vents? Maybe there aren't many hiding places on the outside.

"But sir, what if they make it to the vault?" I hear another voice ask. "It won't matter; their precious gold isn't in there anyway." My ears perk up.

"The gold was confiscated by the Chief Commander; the pirates won't think to look there." Wow, these guys need to learn to not talk about their battle plans.

"Hey!" My ears perk up as I see a Marine crawling towards me from another path.

Well, my fifteen minutes is just about up! I quickly charge electricity through my paws and slam them onto the metal. Lightning crawls along the metal, easily zapping the soldier, and I hear pained cries from other soldiers further down the vent. I turn tail and start running; I need to find the way out, and quick!

I make it back up to the lit hallways when bullets start to fly through the metal. Crap, they must've gotten word that I'm in here! I burst through the nearest grate and run at top speed, shocking any soldiers near me and barely dodging their bullets.

Wait...I don't have to dodge them!

I concentrate, and a yellow cube appears around my small being. The bullets hit the cube but I only wince; it feels like someone's chucking small rocks at me; way less painful.

I make it to the door and burst out, leaping onto the railing. I let down my shield and quickly focus electricity to my tail, making it blink three times. I repeat the signal as much as I can for good measure until the soldiers burst out the door, guns at the ready.

Suddenly, there's an explosion of smoke between me and the soldiers. My eyes widen as I feel a familiar hand grab my tail, and the next thing I know, I'm soaring through the air, away from the base. There's a snap, and I find myself hanging upside-down, a grinning Luffy holding my tail.

"Gotcha!" Luffy says with a giggle.

"Chu!" I growl, squirming in his grip. This is not a laughing matter, mister!

"That was close…" Usopp sighs in relief.

"What the heck happened?" Luffy asks, dropping me, barely allowing me to land properly.

"Judging by those soldiers that attacked Pikachu, I think it's safe to say that the Marines had set a trap for us in there." Robin says, earning a nod from me.

"So? We'll just spring the trap and fight our way through. Simple as that." Zoro says much to Usopp's dismay.

Luffy grins and cracks his knuckles, "Sweet."

I quickly shake my head and wave my paws. "Pika, pika pika pi, pikachu!" I say, pointing to the fortress.

Everyone is silent. "What?" Zoro asks.

I groan; charade time again. Yay.

Now, how can I make this work? I leap up and dig through Usopp's bag, ignoring his protests until I find what I'm looking for; a stethoscope. Somehow, I had a feeling he'd have one in there; he always has practical stuff on him! I leap back onto the ground and put it on. I hold the diaphragm up in the air like I'm placing it on something solid and move my paw around like I'm turning a dial.

"Uh…" Usopp studies me. "Someone's sick?" I frown and shake my head, continuing my show.

"I think it's talking about the safe." Robin says. I brighten and nod, throwing the stethoscope away. I then widen my eyes making them big and shiny like money symbols, a perfect imitation of Nami's look.

"Ooh! I know! That's Nami!" Luffy pipes up excitedly. Well, he's halfway there. I shake my head and point to my eyes specifically.

"Money?" Zoro asks. I urge them to keep going; they're really close!

"The gold." Robin says with finality, and I nod happily, my eyes returning to normal.

"Oh! Are you telling us that the gold is in the safe?" Usopp asks.

"Didn't we already know that?" Zoro adds.

I glare at him but shake my head regardless, and Robin puts a finger to her chin. "I see…"

"What is it?" Usopp asks.

"The gold isn't in the safe." Robin answers. "It seems the Marines figured out that we would go there, leading them to set the trap."

"What?!" Luffy exclaims.

Usopp laughs in triumph and gives me a good scratch behind the ears, "This is exactly why you're our spy; you just saved us a boatload of trouble!" I squeal affectionately, leaning into Usopp's touch. It's nice to actually feel useful for a change!

"That said, what are we supposed to do now?" Usopp asks. "Just wander around aimlessly until we find the gold?" Uh, actually-

Zoro tenses suddenly. "What is it?" Usopp asks.

"Thought I heard something…" He mutters.

"I hear it too." Robin agrees. I listen carefully and my ears twitch; it sounds like a motor of some kind.

Usopp runs over and peeks over the edge of the cliff, "It's Nami and the Waver!" He exclaims. Oh good, we're safe! Guess she left Sanji on the Merry if they got the Waver back already.

"Glad to see you guys safe." Nami says, skidding to a halt. "Did you find the gold?"

"About that…" Usopp says.

We explain the situation to her, and luckily she seems to understand instead of going on a rampage. "I see...Sanji and I didn't hear about where the gold could be when we were sneaking around." She says.

"It's too risky to try any other vaults; the same trap could be waiting for us." Robin adds.

"Then where else could the gold be?" Zoro asks.

"Pikachu!" I raise my paw and everyone looks at me. "Pika pikachu!" I say, pointing to myself.

"Wait, you know where it is?!" Usopp asks in shock, catching everyone's attention. I nod and imitate some Marine soldiers to show that they let it slip; they weren't exactly subtle.

"Then where is it?" Luffy asks.

I move and point to the building where the Head Commander's office is. "That place?" Luffy asks, gazing at the building. "Isn't that where the commander guy is?"

Robin nods, "Ah, very clever." She muses. "He's hiding the bait in plain sight; I guess he's a fisherman for a reason."

Nami suddenly scoops me up, hugging me and spinning around, "Pika-chan, you're the best!" She squeals, giving me a kiss on the head and making me blush. Arceus, the affection from these guys is off the charts today! Not that I'm complaining…

Nami puts me down and puts her Climatact together, "Luffy, you know where the Commander's Office is, so you're taking me there." She says firmly.

"Uh, okay." Luffy says with a shrug. They get into the Waver and Nami tells us to get back to the Merry. Okay, if they're sure they can handle this…

The Waver drives off, and we start moving. We make it back to the docks and set sail in record time, Nami and Luffy meeting us on the water in no time and all, and with our gold in tow. Now we just have to get out of here!

We follow a few other ships for a while, still in our disguise until we finally gain enough speed to burst out of our disguise and sail full speed ahead. However, it isn't long before warships start chasing us. But then they start to bring in their sails and drop their anchors...what are they doing?

"Guess they gave up." Zoro says. My ears wilt; this doesn't feel right, even Marines don't just stop like this. They aren't even firing on us. We're still in their territory, why give up here?

Our answer is given to us when the water seems to get rougher, making the boat rock. Robin puts a lantern near the water with her extra hands and Nami pales, "The tide…" She squeaks. "It's draining all the water…" Wait, what?!

The whole ship lurches, throwing Luffy right off the Merry's head and the ship drags along the ground, nearly throwing me off the railing. Sanji grabs me just in time and I cringe as the sound of wood against earth grates against my ears until we finally slow to a stop. We're completely stranded.

Well, even though we can't escape, at least we don't have to worry about that giant hole in the Merry that the ground made and Luffy isn't drowning anymore. But now how are we supposed to get out of here?

We all gather on the main deck, but it seems Usopp has a plan. "I've been using this Impact Dial to absorb impacts when those Marine troopers tried to stop us." He says. "There's so much that we could probably blast the Merry right out of here!" That's...actually a pretty sound idea!

"Super! If we could just make it over the cliffs we'd be home-free!" Nami says.

"Yeah, but with a hole that big we'd sink like a rock the minute we hit the water." Sanji points out.

"What if we could make the octopus inflate again?" Robin suggests.

"Yeah, we could use the Flame and Breath Dials to reinflate it!" Nami agrees.

"It would have more hot air than Luffy!" Chopper jokes, making us all laugh.

"Too bad we lost it…" Usopp mutters.

"Uh-huh." Chopper agrees.

"I'll say…" Nami whimpers.

"Where'd it go?" Sanji asks.

"I have it." Luffy says.

"Oh, Luffy has it." Usopp says.

"He does?"

"That's what he said."

"Yeah, he has it."

"Pika."

"Yep, sure do!" Luffy says with a grin and we all start in shock.

"What?! Where?!"

Luffy reached into his pants and pulls out the octopus. Are you kidding me…? Was that in there the whole time?!

"Why is that thing there?!" Nami demands.

"He helped us when we fell so I wanted to keep him safe!" Luffy answers, full of pride.

"Wasn't that gross?" Zoro asks.

"For him or the octopus?" Sanji asks. Yeah…

Well, we have everything we need now. So we just gotta inflate the octopus and blast the ship out of here. "Speaking of which…" Usopp says. "Who's gonna fire the Impact Dial?"

We all look at Usopp, with evil gleams in our eyes; I think we know exactly who's gonna fire it.

"Hey...what's with that look?" Usopp asks nervously.

"Who does the Impact Dial belong to?" Luffy asks slyly.

"It's yours, Usopp." Zoro answers.

"Then it's only fair if we let the owner do the honors." Sanji agrees.

"You're the best Usopp." Nami says.

"Good luck Usopp." Chopper says.

"Pikachu." I say.

Sanji and Zoro then grab the frantic Usopp and drag him down to the lower deck while the rest of us get the octopus ready. They give a countdown, we all brace ourselves, and there's a loud boom. I cling to the mast as the ship suddenly lifts off into the sky, the Breath Dials underneath it giving us a little extra boost.

Robin creates a bunch of extra arms and helps stretch and expand the octopus as much as possible while Nami and Luffy inflate it with the Breath and Flame Dials. But we're still falling! We're gonna hit the water and sink!

C'mon, we've gotta fly and we gotta fly now!

Suddenly, the octopus fully inflates, and the ship jerks back into the air thanks to another blow from the Impact Dial. The sun starts to rise as we gain enough altitude to clear the cliffs; we did it! We're gonna make it! Everyone gathers on the main deck, Usopp coming up last having patched the hole in record timing. At least he got it done.

Just then, we hear an explosion behind us. We all turn to see something moving sporadically through the air and right for us. Who fired that thing?! Before we can react, a missile hits the octopus with a loud pop, and our ship is on it's own in the air.

"Octopus!" Luffy yells. He quickly catches the shrunken octopus, and we all scream as we start to fall.

Luckily, we weren't too far from the water and Usopp patched up the hole enough so we won't sink...hopefully. We hit the water with a boom, and we stay in one piece. Phew!

"We made it!" Chopper cheers.

"Uh, guys?" Usopp calls fearfully. We turn to him to see him pointing above us. We all follow and our eyes widen; the missile is still right above us and it's not flying anymore! It's gonna drop right on top of us! My mind goes a mile a minute; I have to shield us and the ship somehow!

Wait...what about my new move? Everyone's pretty close together, so this could just save in time! I just have to concentrate.

I run over so I'm in the middle of my friends and start to focus my energy. The missile drops right towards us, prepared to take us all out. I really hope this works! I close my eyes and concentrate as hard as I can and feel something hit me on the head just as the explosion rings throughout the air.

…

...Did it work?

I open one eye and follow with the other the moment I see that same yellow shield around me surrounded by black smoke from the missile. I gaze around to see my fellow pirates around me, all of them safely inside the shining yellow cube and the ship unharmed. They all gaze at my shield in amazement before their eyes fall on me.

Sanji grins, "Nice move, partner." I smile and let the shield down.

"Was that a shield?" Nami asks.

"Yeah! Isn't it awesome?" Luffy exclaims.

"Pika-chan, you're amazing!" Chopper gushes, making me blush.

"Interesting…" Robin muses.

"Oh no, Octopus!" Luffy suddenly exclaims, drawing us to the deflated animals in his arms. It has a big hole in its head and it looks nearly unconscious. "Chopper, quick! You have to fix him!" Luffy urges.

Chopper nods and turns into Heavy Point. "I'll see what I can do."

Chopper hurries into the galley and after about an hour, is happy to report that the octopus has made a full recovery, it just needed some bandages to patch the hole. We let the octopus go back into the Blue Sea (cause there's no way it can make it back to the White Sea now), and bid it farewell.

I sigh in relief as I sit on the Merry's head; now that we're back on the open sea, I wonder what we'll run into next?

* * *

 **Alright! Another arc checked off the list! But before we can get to the next one it's *drumroll* MOVIE TIME!**

 **And if you remember correctly, we're now on Movie 6 and oooooooh boy. This is gonna be FUN!**


	77. Secret Island Omatsuri I

**THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME! MOVIE 6!**

 **Oooooooooooooh man, I've been looking forward to tackling this sucker ever since I saw it! And this is most likely going to be the only movie that's getting TWO CHAPTERS dedicated to it. I'll explain why in a minute.**

 **Anyway, this movie...THIS MOVIE...It is one of my favorites for ALL the wrong reasons. Not because of the animation, not because the drama and stakes are through the roof, not because of how dark and trippy it is...but because it is the ONLY movie I've watched that has made me pause the movie, get up, walk around for a good ten minutes to clear my head, only to sit back down to it again and yell WHAT THE ACTUALY FUCK ONE PIECE?!**

 **Yeah, this movie fucked me up and fucked me up BAD. And I'm gonna say this now: This movie is going to be PIVOTAL for Pika-chan as a character and concerning it's relationship with the Straw Hats, as well as a pretty big chunk of mystery concerning Pika-chan's amnesia AND it's mental state. What is it? You shall soon find out.**

 **And finally, do I have a problem with this movie? Yes I do. I despise the fact that it JUST ENDS! It just stops right after Luffy wins the fight! GUYS! You can't give us all that drama and angst and NOT GIVE US ANY CLOSURE! Thankfully, there's actually a one-shot fic called 'Rememoror' which talks a bit about the aftermath, it was thanks to that fic that I was able to make a second part for this. So that's why this movie's getting two chapters.**

 **Anyway, buckle up kids, cause it's gonna be one hell of a ride.**

* * *

Mail is something I occasionally forget about while sailing. It takes me a minute to remember that the seagulls flying over us with giant messenger bags are carrying mail for sailors and pirates. I either remember when I see them, or when a bunch of letters start fluttering down towards us.

Today though, I was given a very rude reminder when a decent sized parcel dropped right on my head. I was sitting on the railing next to Chopper when it hit, causing me to topple backwards onto the deck, the parcel lying on my face.

"Ah! Pika-chan!" Chopper yelps, leaping off the railing. He helps me sit up, the parcel falling into my paws. "You've been hit! We need a doctor! Someone call a doctor!" Chopper blubbers before halting, "Oh wait...that's me."

I roll my eyes good naturedly, "Pikachu." _'I'm fine.'_ I reassure him and draw my attention to my so-called attacker. The parcel is light but bulgy and there's no address; is it for all of us, maybe?

Chopper seems to notice this as well and takes it from my paws, and opens it. Inside is a sealed glass bottle, an Eternal Pose, and a note. I take out the Eternal Pose, gazing at the label: Omatsuri.

"What do you think this is?" Chopper asks.

I shrug, and I turn as Nami has arrived on the main deck, "Pika!" I call, catching her attention. "Pika pikachu!" I continue, holding up the Pose.

Both Nami and Robin approach us, "What's going on?" Nami asks. She takes the Eternal Pose from me, "Where did you get this?"

"This package just fell from the sky and hit Pika-chan on the head!" Chopper explains.

Robin examines the rest of the package and holds the sealed bottle up to the light, "Interesting…" She muses. She summons an extra hand and smashes the bottle on the deck, allowing a large piece of paper to spring free. Robin unfolds the paper and looks it over, "Miss Navigator, it seems we've been delivered a map."

"A map?" Nami asks as Robin flattens it on the deck.

"What's going on over here?" Usopp asks, wandering over.

"I think we may have gotten our mail mixed up." Nami says.

"But Nami, there's no address." Chopper points out.

"I've never heard of this Omatsuri Island before." Robin says.

"Wait, we just got delivered a random map along with an Eternal Pose to take us there?" Usopp asks.

"Pretty much." Nami shrugs.

"Then it's a trap, it's gotta be!" Usopp exclaims. No, really? What was your first guess?

"What's so special about this place that they'd deliver all this stuff to us?" Zoro asks, looking over from his weightlifting.

My ears twitch as I remember the note that came with it. I pull it out and hand it to Nami. "If you are a pirate among pirates among pirates among pirates, gather your steadfast crew and set sail for Omatsuri Island." She reads. "Weird."

Robin takes it from her and scans the rest. "Hmm, it says that Omatsuri is one of the finest island resorts on the Grand Line." Robin reads. "It boasts that every day is a festival, and you can enjoy spas and salons all day."

Nami lights up, "Spas and salons?" She asks. "This place sounds amazing!" Well, at least she didn't fall for it over money reasons…

Usopp peeks over Robin's shoulder at the note and continues reading, "It also says that nightlife is filled with beauties from all over the world along with fine beverages."

My ears twitch and a second later, Sanji bursts out of the galley and joins our group, "This island sounds great! We should go!" He says instantly, earning a shock from me. I'm not letting up until he learns to stop letting his hormones make his decisions, dammit!

"And it even says that it serves exquisite cuisine!" Nami says, reading the last bit.

"Really?" Chopper squeals excitedly, "That sounds great! What kind of food is it!" Huh, and here I thought Luffy would be the one jumping around from that detail.

"I still say it's a trap." Usopp says.

"Huh? It's a trap?" Chopper asks.

"Don't listen to him." Sanji says waving his hand.

"Yeah, this island sounds wonderful!" Nami says, gazing at the map. I do have to admit, if all that stuff is true, it does sound like a fun time.

"Well Luffy, what do you want to do?" Zoro finally speaks up for the first time.

I look over at Luffy who's on the Merry's head; he's been silent the whole time. "Nami, read that first part again." He says.

Nami blinks, "Uh, okay." She takes the card, "If you are a pirate among pirates among pirates among pirates, gather your steadfast crew and set sail for Omatsuri Island."

Luffy takes in the words and nods, "Alright guys, I've decided!" He says, standing up. "As pirates on the Grand Line, set sail for Omatsuri Island!"

Alright then! Here's to hoping that nothing too threatening shows up.

* * *

It takes a good chunk of the day to get to the island, but we eventually arrive at Omatsuri. The place looks pretty dense with jungle, except for the mountain right in the middle. We drop anchor and get to the beach, but no one's here. We wander around for a good while, but it's clear the beach is deserted.

"Did we miss the festival?" Usopp asks.

"There's no way this is the wrong island…" Nami mutters.

"Very strange." Robin says. "The map had flowers drawn on it, but I don't see a single one." _That's_ what you're disappointed about?

"Guess we've been duped." Zoro says with a shrug. Aw, that's too bad. All that stuff sounded really exciti-

My ears twitch and I look around. I hear something...it's super faint but I think it's getting louder.

Chopper must hear it too, as he starts glancing around, "Do you hear that?" Luffy stops running around and listens carefully as it becomes clearer; yeah, those are drumbeats!

"This way!" Luffy calls and we run into the jungle. We follow the sound for a good while until the ground abruptly becomes concrete and we're suddenly faced with, what I can only describe as, a huge resort. The place looks huge and bright, filled with rides, exhibits, and all kinds of entertainment. Multiple scents of different foods fill my nose; I think it's safe to say we found the right place.

Just then, a bunch of people come out, all of them with weird plants on their heads and three elephants emerge from the middle. The one in the lead is holding three people on its back, the one in the middle obviously the leader. He has weird hair that looks like a spout of water, a beard, and a weird toy flower with a face sitting on his shoulder. The elephants stop as they near us and the drumbeats stop as well.

"Courageous pirates, who travel the Grand Line!" The leader announces. "I congratulate you on reaching our wondrous Omatsuri Island; I, Baron Omatsuri, welcome you graciously!" So this guy is the leader. "You have faced a long and perilous journey!" He continues as Sanji, Nami and Chopper get ready to be released into the festivities. "You may enjoy yourselves to your heart's content!" He pauses. "But before you do...you must overtake the Ordeal of Hell!"

...Oh.

"I knew it!" Usopp mutters. I sigh and my ears wilt; should've known. We've never caught a break before, so why should we now?

"We're out of here." Sanji, Nami and Chopper proclaim, turning swiftly on their heels.

"Wait wait!" Luffy calls, blocking them from leaving. "What's the Ordeal of Hell, Old Man?"

"The Ordeal is a test of strength!" Baron answers. "Countless pirates have failed and fled from this island; if you don't have complete trust in your crewmates, then it's in your best interests to leave this island now!" Wait, this ordeal is based on strength and the trust between crewmates? Call me crazy, but this actually sounds like a test that's up our alley.

"Don't be stupid!" Luffy says. "We'll beat your ordeal!"

"Luffy!" Nami shrieks; she grabs his face and drags him down, "Luffy, think about this! What will we gain by staying here?!"

"She's right, we don't have to do this." Sanji says, kneeling next to her.

"Yeah, it could be dangerous!" Chopper agrees.

"I know that, but I want to try it!" Luffy says.

"Luffy, I told you; this is a trap!" Usopp chimes in.

"It's an Ordeal of Hell!" Chopper adds, probably thinking that the name alone is enough to convince him.

"I know." Luffy says, his smile still on his face. Guys, you know that when he gets that look there's no reasoning with him. "Who cares if it's a trap; I know you guys can handle it." Luffy says. "He said we should leave if I didn't trust you guys; and I trust you guys."

I can't help but blush lightly at the sudden profound words. "Never took you for a sweet talker, Captain." Sanji remarks.

Well, guess that seals it; Ordeal of Hell it is!

Once we all verbally agree, the island suddenly starts to shake. Everything, from the buildings to the jungle start to shift like a big slide puzzle. I jump onto Sanji's shoulder just in case and soon we find ourselves on a large round platform overlooking the ocean, surrounded by stands filled with cheering people.

"The ordeal you shall undertake is…" We all brace ourselves. "Goldfish Catching!" We all wilt in confusion as a big tank of small goldfish rises from the middle of the platform.

"The rules are simple!" The Baron continues. "The team that captures the largest goldfish in three minutes wins! But be careful; these paper nets dissolve easily in water!" Well, at least it sounds simple enough. He then introduces our opponent, his first mate, Muchigoro, who looks kinda like a weird fish or mudskipper things. He also has a plant on his head; what's up with that?

"Now Straw Hats; choose one of your members to compete!" Baron says.

"Oooh! Me me me me! I wanna do it!" Luffy calls instantly.

"Hold up." Usopp says coolly. "I can handle this guy easily; so you guys just sit back and enjoy the show."

"This coming from the guy who was shaking in his boots about this whole thing five minutes ago." Nami comments.

"If it's Goldfish Catching, I'm not interested." Zoro says, waving his hand. "Have at it."

We all back up and Usopp and Muchigoro approach the tank. "You're gonna regret being my opponent." Usopp says to Muchigoro, "For you're facing the one and only Master of Goldfish Catching!"

"Master?!" Muchigoro exclaims.

"Really?!" Chopper squeals. I facepalm; not this again…

"You're amazing!" Both Muchigoro and Chopper exclaims.

"I sure am amazing!" Usopp responds, laughing.

"You're not lying, are you?" Chopper asks.

"Please tell me you're lying!" Muchigoro pleads.

Usopp abruptly stops laughing, "I lied." There's a big surprise…

Chopper and Muchigoro fret over being lied to and the competition starts. "Go!" The tiny flower on Baron's shoulder announces. So that thing's not a toy after all? Usopp starts to go for the tank, but Muchigoro does nothing.

My ears suddenly twitch and I perk up, looking towards the water. "What's up?" Sanji asks.

"Pika pika." I say, pointing to the water.

Everyone follows my paw and the water starts to shake. All of a sudden, a giant goldfish leaps out of the water with a huge splash. "That's my pet, Rosario." Muchigoro says slyly.

That thing is a pet?! That fish has got to be as long as at least four or five Gyaradoses, and I'm not even gonna question that mystery word!

The goldfish, er, Rosario falls back into the water, creating a giant wave. I tighten my grip on Sanji as we're all drenched from head to toe; at least it's a hot day. "Hey, what's going on?!" Nami splutters once the water recedes. "I thought this was Goldfish Catching!"

"Oh, but it is, young lady." Baron responds.

Nami frowns, "Okay, mind explaining how the hell we're supposed to catch something that big?!" She demands.

"Simple." Baron says, gesturing to the water, "Just get the fish into the bucket." We all look, and sure enough, two giant buckets are floating on the water.

"He certainly left out a few important details." Robin comments.

"Tricky bastard…" Zoro grumbles.

"Who cares?!" Luffy laughs, "This is awesome!"

"It is not awesome!" Nami snaps back.

"Welp, I'm done." Usopp says, shoving the tiny net into Nami's hands. "The rest is up to you, Nami!"

Nami pales as he runs off, "Hey, get back here! You're the so-called Master!" She protests. She then faces the goldfish, "Fine, guess it's up to me!" But it's pretty clear that she won't be able to do anything against something that big.

"Watch out, my lovely Nami!" Sanji leaps into the air and gives Rosario two good hard kicks, but he falls into the water when Nami doesn't compliment him on it. He can swim, I'm not chasing him.

"Zoro, you're turn." Nami says, giving Zoro the tiny net.

"Fine, guess I'll do it." Zoro mutters, holding the net between his teeth. He leaps towards Rosario and starts to draw Wado; uh, Zoro we have to catch the thing, not kill it.

"Hey! No swords allowed!" Baron yells frantically.

Zoro starts and quickly sheathes his swords, resorting to hitting Rosario with it like a baseball bat. "How dare you try and cut my beloved Rosario!" Muchigoro accuses when Zoro lands.

"I'm a swordsman, what was I supposed to do?!" Zoro retorts.

"My turn!" Luffy calls, grabbing the net. "Gum Gum...Pistol!" His fist holding the net flies up and nails Rosario right in the face, causing the net's paper to dissolve. "Nooo! It tore!" Luffy panics.

"Was he actually expecting to catch that thing with that tiny net?" Nami asks out loud. Knowing him, probably.

"You can't do that." Muchigoro says. "You have to catch Rosario with something like this!" He pulls out a giant fishing net.

"No fair!" Usopp and Nami yell, pointing. "I never said you have to use this particular tiny net." Baron points out. Man, I hate it when we play with people who make the rules!

"One minute left! One minute left!" The tiny flower calls.

"Be a good girl and come here Rosario!" Muchigoro calls, holding the net under the giant fish. Rosario falls into it, and with a giant swing, he launches Rosario towards his giant bucket.

"I see," Robin comments. "So there were never any rules to begin with." She crosses her arms and makes a net of hands, bouncing the fish right out of the bucket and back towards us. Or rather...right on top of us.

"Run for it!" Usopp yells. All of us but Chopper flee the scene.

"Leave the rest to me!" Chopper says, and he pops a Rumble Ball into his mouth. There's a poof, and a giant ball of fur appears before us; Chopper's Fur Point! The tiny flower begins counting down the remaining seconds as the fish bounces off Chopper and lands in our bucket just as the clock runs out.

"Game Over! Game Over!" The flower calls. "The winners are the Straw Hat pirates!"

"Yes!" Luffy cheers, all of us jumping for joy (Sanji finally got out of the water).

"Great job Chopper!" Nami calls.

Chopper's fur falls away, leaving the dazed reindeer behind. I run towards him as he teeters around, dangerously close to the edge. "Pika pika!" I cheer. I grab his hooves and spin him around, moving safely away from the water before giving him a hug and nuzzling him.

Chopper blinks his dizziness away and blushes as I nuzzle him happily, "Just so you know, this doesn't make me happy!" He exclaims, hugging me back. Yeah yeah, sure, you big furball.

We all start to celebrate; that was easier than I thought! I can't believe that was the Ordeal of Hell! I mean, I understand how 'normal' pirates failed it, but c'mon!

"Wait!" The Baron's voice suddenly rings out. "The contest isn't finished yet! You must now undertake the next ordeal!"

"Hold on!" Nami says suddenly. "You never said anything about another ordeal!"

"You lost, just deal with it." Zoro comments.

"Silence!" Baron roars. "You will do what I order you to do, and that's final!" Boy, someone's a sore loser…

"Another ordeal?" Luffy asks. "Sounds like fun! We'll win it too!" Arceus dammit…

"Luffy!" Nami exclaims, grabbing him. "We came to a resort; we're here to relax, not play silly games!"

Luffy worms out of Nami's grip and faces us, "Everyone, do your best and don't lose okay?"

"MORON!" Nami yells, giving Luffy a good punch. This is gonna be a long day…

* * *

The next ordeal was to take place somewhere in the jungle. Part of the challenge was to find it, but we eventually stumbled across it. Nami had tried to break off and go back to the ship, but we quickly found out that the map was useless and we had no idea where we were.

Anyway, the next game is some kind of ring toss game. You race around on boats and try to throw your rings (life preservers) onto your opponents, which in this case, are four weird looking old guys that look and act like frogs. At this point, I'm not questioning it.

In the end, we chose Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro to play the game, as only four members were necessary. The rest of us are taken to a very fancy hotel, complete with food, drinks, and a lots of relaxing looking places.

"Man, I wanted to play the Ring Toss game…" Luffy moans.

"I'm sure the others can handle it." Robin says. "In the meantime we can get some rest." Yeah, that sounds good; this was the whole reason we came here, after all.

Chopper and I quickly find the kitchen and help ourselves to some snacks. The chefs were nice enough to let us eat stuff fresh from the oven. I gotta remember to take Sanji in here later; I'm sure he and these chefs would get along great, and maybe they could exchange recipes. That always brightens his day, tenfold.

Once we finish eating Chopper goes off, wanting to explore, but I stay behind. I don't really feel up to much physical activity. Speaking of which, I thought I saw Luffy run off somewhere; Arceus knows where he is now. I curl up on the couch opposite the lawn chairs where Robin is relaxing, and before I know it, I'm sound asleep.

* * *

"...The Lily Carnation…"

My ears twitch and I open my eyes. Robin's sitting up on her lawn chair, looking very thoughtful. "Pikachu?" I ask, through a yawn.

"Oh, I was just told that there's a special flower that only grows on this island." Robin explains. I tilt my head in curiosity. "According to the fellow who just left, the Lily Carnation only grows on the highest point on the island."

I nod in understanding; that sounds pretty neat. Maybe when we have the time we should all hike up there and find some to take with us. A little while later, fireworks start going off in the sky and Nami, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp walk into the building.

"Pika pi!" I greet with a wave.

"Hey." Sanji replies flatly, giving me a small pat. I frown slightly; that's weird. Sanji, Zoro and Nami feel really...tense.

"How did the competition go?" Robin asks.

"We won in a landslide, thanks to Yours Truly!" Usopp says, standing tall and proud.

"Only because you flew off in a some stupid glider…" Nami mutters.

"Glider?" Robin asks.

"Oh yeah, it was weird!" Usopp says. "The boat had this Rescue Box and there was a hang glider inside! It took me way high up into the sky!"

Robin seems intrigued. "Did you see anything strange from the sky?" She asks.

"Strange how?" Usopp asks.

"Did you see a flower, or a plant of some kind?" Robin asks.

"A flower…" Usopp scratches his head when he starts, "Actually, now that you mention it-"

"Anyone seen Chopper?" Zoro asks suddenly. Geez, rude much?

"He went out to explore." Robin answers. "He said he would be back soon."

"Hey, does anyone know where Chopper is?" Sanji asks.

"Robin just said he went out to explore!" Usopp says irritably. Okay, this is kinda weird...was Sanji really not paying attention? Robin was the one who said it first so why-

"Hey, where's Chopper?" Nami asks.

Usopp sighs, "I _said_ -"

"No one asked you, Usopp!" Nami snaps. I flinch from the sharp tone. That wasn't the usual edginess that she usually had when she was annoyed, that was legit rage.

"Geez Nami! How long are you gonna stay mad at me?" Usopp groans.

"Hey guys, how did the game go?" Luffy calls, walking towards us.

Usopp looks at him. "Well, we won-"

"Yeah yeah, thanks to you, we get it." Nami bites out, turning away. I glance between all four of my friends, a confused expression coming to my face. What's going on? This tension...this anger...it doesn't feel right at all. I'm used to them getting annoyed or even kinda snippy with each other but this...this is way different.

"Captain, please do something." Robin says. "They've been acting like this for quite a while."

"What's this? Why are you arguing?" We all look as Baron appears, a line of drums behind him. "I thought your little crew got along so well…"

Zoro scoffs, "Oh please; spare us the jokes." I flinch at the cold tone as the tension becomes more apparent. This isn't right… Zoro may act cold but he never means it. But that time… it felt like he really did.

"Very well." Baron says, the drums starting to beat. "In honor of your victory, I will entertain you all to a private dinner party." The large fountain suddenly parts, draining all the water. A large stage rises out of the fountain, along with a man, wielding two large spatulas and and a plant on his head. What is with all the people with plants on their heads here?

"I present to you, the Outdoor Iron Griddle Restaurant!" Baron announces. Wait, what? The edges of the griddle ignite with large flames making us all step back.

"A cooking show, huh?" Sanji mutters.

The chef starts skating around the griddle, oil soaked sponges attached to his feet. "He's spreading oil!" Nami exclaims.

"It's nothing special." Sanji responds. I look up at him in confusion; I know Sanji's a hard man to please when it comes to cooking but he at least gives out constructive criticism if he doesn't like something!

The other men around the griddle launch a bunch of large ingredients into the air, and the chef uses his spatulas to easily slice them up. He then starts skating around, flipping and gathering the ingredients together. "He's fast!" Usopp comments.

"That looks so good!" Luffy says with a big smile.

I suddenly feel Sanji's rage peak, and the next thing I know, he's on the griddle, wielding his own spatula and oil-sponge skates.

"Hey kid, you're in my way!" The chef exclaims.

"Luffy!" Sanji calls. "I'm about to make you a meal that's a hundred times better than what this fatass is making." My ears wilt; he was quick to throw down the gauntlet.

The chef chuckles, "Sorry, but I don't have anymore ingredients for you to use." He sneers.

Sanji glares at him, "Then I'll just have to take yours!" The drum starts pounding and Sanji and the chef start skating around, grabbing any ingredients they can frm one another.

Food hockey… The Grand Line never fails to give us stuff that _doesn't_ surprise me. By the time this journey is over, I'll have seen everything the world has to offer.

"Alright! Go Sanji!" Luffy cheers.

"Whatever…" I shudder as Zoro sits back in a chair. That tone really isn't sitting well with me. This isn't him just acting tough, this is him literally not caring.

"You're doing great, Sanji!" Nami cheers. "Keep it up!" I feel a bit of relief at the genuine happiness in Nami's voice. Maybe there really is nothing to worry abou-

"Go get 'em Sanji!" Usopp cheers, moving next to Nami. "You can do it!"

The happiness from Nami vanishes as she moves away from Usopp with a scowl to cheer somewhere else. Usopp tries to move next to her again, but gets the same result, making Nami go sit with one of the Baron's crewmates.

My eyes widen as Usopp storms away from the banquet in anger. This...This isn't right! Nami would never shun Usopp like this! Those two are practically peas in a pod when it comes to supporting the others! Why is there so much tension and rage between the two of them?! This isn't right at all!

I turn back to the hockey match and Sanji's made a giant yakisoba dish, making Luffy nearly explode from happiness. Sanji jumps off the griddle as Luffy dives into it and Zoro wakes up, having fallen asleep earlier. "What? Is dinner ready?" He asks sleepily. "Good, let's eat."

"You can just go hungry tonight, lazy bastard."

Those words hit me like a slap to the face. I turn to Sanji who's glaring at Zoro. Did he...did he just-?

"Anyone who doesn't cheer for me doesn't have the right to eat." Sanji says coldly. He doesn't even spare Zoro a second glance before he runs off looking for Robin.

I nearly fall over from shock; Sanji just denied someone food. _Sanji!_ And someone that's part of the crew, no less! Even if it's Zoro, Sanji always makes sure everyone is well fed! He even feeds enemies if they're hungry, no matter what!

I start to shake as my pulse quickens; what's wrong with everyone? Why are they acting like this? They shouldn't be acting like this, we're a crew! We've stuck together through so much, and we trust each other with our lives, don't we? If so, then why...why is this happening?

The flames around the griddle disappear, cooling the whole thing. I slowly make my way over and help myself to the takoyaki; it really tastes amazing, as usual.

Dinner eventually ends, and the candles on the tables are blown out. I ate my fill a while ago, Luffy's still working on finishing off that giant takoyaki, and he's almost done. I know Zoro got some, despite what Sanji said, Nami was busy talking to that other guy, and Robin, Chopper, and Usopp...aren't here. Speaking of Chopper, he's been gone for hours now. I hope the little guy's okay…

"Hey Luffy, quit stuffing your face!" My ears perk up as Sanji runs over to us. "Robin's gone!"

Luffy gets up, "She's gone?" He asks.

"Oh yeah, she said she wanted to go look for some kind of flower." Zoro says, getting up. What? She went looking for the Lily Carnation by herself? I know Robin's known for wandering off on her own but-

"Something like that wouldn't take this long!" Sanji exclaims.

"Hey, where's Usopp?" Luffy asks, looking at Nami as she approaches.

"Uh...I don't know…" She answers.

"Wait, Usopp's gone too?!" Sanji demands.

"Chopper still hasn't come back yet either." Zoro adds. What...where could they be? Why would they go off without us? They would've at least told us!

"Shit…" Sanji mutters.

"This is bad…" Nami breathes.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Zoro muses.

"Oh don't give me that crap!" Sanji snaps.

"What was that?!" Zoro growls. I tense greatly as the fighting starts again in full swing.

"Where the hell were you?! I told you to look out for them!"

"They're not kids; you can't expect me to always babysit them!"

"Are you telling me that three of our crewmates have disappeared and no one noticed?!"

"Pika-" _'Sanji-'_

"How should I know?!"

"Pikachu-" _'Zoro, c'mon-'_

"But that can't be! They've got to be here somewhere!"

"Pika pika-" _'Nami, please-'_

"Well Luffy, what's the plan?"

"Pika pi..." _'You guys...'_

"You got us into this mess…"

 _'Stop…'_

"If it wasn't for you we wouldn't have come to this island in the first place!"

 _'Don't fight…'_

"Sanji, this isn't the time for this!"

 _'Please stop…'_

"Don't defend him; you know it's true!"

 _'Just stop…'_ I squeeze my eyes shut. _'Stop, stop, stop!'_

Sanji glares at Luffy, and the bomb finally drops, "Luffy...this is _all your fault!_ "

My eyes fly open in a rage. "PIKA!" _'SHUT UP!'_ I stomp my paws on the ground, punctuating my anger. _'SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!'_

I look up to see them all looking at me. _'Just shut up and stop!'_ I don't care if they can't understand me; I can't stand this anymore! _'Ever since we got here it's been nothing but fighting! What the hell is wrong with you?! You've never acted like this before!'_

I take a deep breath and tears prick my eyes before everything spills out in one long rush. _'Do you have any idea how it feels to watch this?! How it feels to watch your family fall apart and there's nothing you can do about it?! Don't you care about each other anymore?! We're a crew! We're a family! Why are you fighting like we're enemies?! Why are you fighting at all?! I thought you cared about each other! WHY DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER?!'_

I breathe deeply, my paws clenched into fists by my sides. They're all staring at me as if I've just had a seizure, but I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less. In fact, they way they're looking at me now, it looks like they don't even care what I was talking about. I bet even if they did understand, they wouldn't care.

 _'I hate you...'_ I give them one last glare. _'I HATE YOU!'_

I turn on my paws and run off in a random direction, tears flying down my face. I have no idea where I ended up or how long I was running, but the next thing I know, I'm falling.

I squeal in shock as I tumble down a long tunnel before I land on dirt. I rub my head and look around. I'm in...an underground tunnel? The whole place is lit with lanterns and there are different paths to different tunnels everywhere; where am I? I then hear the shuffling of footsteps nearby. I follow them only to find a short squat man, lugging an unconscious Luffy.

"Pika?" I ask, my voice cracking for some reason.

The man turns around, a strange mustache on his lip, "Oh! You're one of the Straw Hats, aren't you?" He asks. I nod and he seems to hone in on me for a moment, "Good, this is good; two of you are safe." He says. "Come with me."

I uneasily follow until we reach some kind of little room where he lays Luffy down on a mat, covering his eyes with a cool damp cloth. After a while, Luffy finally stirs, "Where is everyone...I can't see, it's pitch black."

I smile weakly and remove the cloth from his eyes. "Oh, Pika-chan!" He smiles and sits up abruptly, but his smile quickly fades after that. "Hey...what's wrong?" He asks me. "You're crying."

My eyes widen and I touch my cheek, finding it very damp; I forgot that I had been crying all this time. I wipe my tears and shake my head, "Pika; pika pikachu." _'Forget it; it's nothing.'_

"Well, if you're sure…" Luffy says slowly.

"I'm glad you're awake." Mustache says.

Luffy turns to him and his eyes widen, "It's you! The guy with the weird lip!" He exclaims.

"I told you, it's a toothbrush mustache!" Mustache snaps. I'm guessing this guy is the reason Luffy was gone during the whole day.

"Where are we?" Luffy asks, looking around. "Some kind of dirty hole?"

"Excuse you." Mustache quips. "It's thanks to these tunnels and trapdoors I've dug that I've been able to stay away from the Baron!" He then looks at Luffy pointedly, "You're lucky to be alive after facing him."

Luffy's eyes grow big, "Hey, I can't just sit here!" He leaps to his feet. "C'mon Pika-chan, we have to find the others!" I barely hesitate before nodding and making to follow.

"Wait, you can't get out of here so easily." Mustache speaks up. "These tunnels form a complex network; only I know how to get in and out."

"Then tell me!" Luffy exclaims loudly. I involuntarily flinch from the sharp tone and step back.

"Huh?" Luffy looks down at me. "Something wrong Pika-chan? You're shaking…"

I am? I look at myself and realize that he's right. What's going on with me? I'm used to hearing this kind of tone, this is just Luffy being Luffy! I guess it feel foreign after what the others…

Mustache makes us some warm milk from a goat he has down here with him and serves it to us. It really helps calm my nerves.

"Hey, what's that?" Luffy asks, pointing to a framed picture, containing Mustache and a bunch of others that look similar to him, wielding a Jolly Roger.

"That's my crew." Mustache answers.

Luffy tilts his head, "Actually, I don't think I've seen any of your crewmates around the island."

"That's because I'm the only one left." Mustache says, sitting down at the table. "I can still remember that day so clearly…" He says. "The day all my dear friends were attacked by the Baron...and swallowed by that terrible monster. The Lily Carnation."

I nearly drop my cup of milk as Mustache explains that the Baron absolutely hates seeing pirate crews with strong bonds of friendship. He wants them to experience the same pain he has, and the one thing he strives to do is destroy the bonds between them.

So that's why the others were acting so weird! That ring toss game must've somehow pitted them against each other! No wonder they were so mad at each other! I suddenly feel guilt rise in me as I remember my tantrum; I should've known that something else was up! This whole thing is the Baron's fault and I went and yelled at my friends!

I...I said I hated them… Oh Arceus, I have to fix this!

Once Mustache finishes his explanation, Luffy flinches and a shiver runs down my spine. My ears twitch and I look around; I've never felt this way before. My heart is in my ears and I can feel my pulse speeding up...something's wrong. Something's happened...something's happened to our friends!

"We have to go." Luffy says, standing abruptly. He wanders around the room until he comes to the small bookshelf. He shoves it to the side, revealing a straight tunnel. "Thanks for your help." Luffy says to Mustache. "Let's go, Pika-chan!"

I nod and we bolt down the tunnel, Mustache calling after us. The feeling gets stronger and stronger as we run; I really don't like this. I've never felt this scared in my life! We have to find the others! Please please let them all be okay!

We follow the tunnel at top speed until we reach a trap door, and Luffy practically slams it open. We hop out, finding ourselves on top of the mountain, overlooking the island. We turn and my eyes widen; a giant stem-like thing is sitting at the very top of the mountain in the middle of a clearing of boulders. Is that...the Lily Carnation?

Luffy clenches his fists as we spy the Baron standing just under it, "Stay close, Pika-chan." He says softly. I nod and we walk slowly towards the Baron.

"So you've finally come, Straw Hat." Baron says as we approach. "And you brought your little pet as well."

Luffy stays silent for a good while, "Where's Chopper, old man?" He asks in a low voice.

"You mean that horned raccoon-dog?" Baron asks. "Well, I'm afraid he's-"

"There are three things you should know." Luffy says, cutting him off. "First, Chopper isn't a raccoon-dog, he's a reindeer; second, Pika-chan isn't a pet; and finally...I don't allow anyone to hurt my friends or make them cry." I look up at Luffy in shock as I remember by remaining tears from earlier.

"Never let me hurt them?" Baron asks. "If I remember correctly, you have six crew members, not including your pet."

Baron chuckles darkly, making me shiver; where is he going with this? "Just before you arrived...that number went down to five."

I feel my heart stop and plummet into my stomach.

"What did you say?" Luffy chokes out.

I unconsciously step closer to my captain as Baron looks up at the giant plant. "Soon all of your crewmates will be devoured by Lily," he says, "And yet you say that you won't let me hurt them."

I gaze up at the creature and back at Baron. What has he done? What did he do to them? The flower on his shoulder catches my attention and I realize that it's chewing. What the heck? Can that thing actually eat? I thought it was just a toy!

It takes me a minute to put the pieces together, and the answer makes my eyes as wide as dinner plates. That...no way...it's _eating_ them?

"Unforgivable…" Luffy mutters. I get into a battle ready position as Luffy glares at Baron. "I'll never forgive you!" He screams. He reels back his fist, "Gum Gum…"

But just before he can launch his attack, there's a whoosh and Luffy's hand flies back. I look back to see an arrow embedded in Luffy's hand, pinning it to a large boulder behind him.

"What happened to your determined spirit?" Baron says. Luffy tries to pull his hand away but it's no use! I scamper over and jump up onto his arm. I grab the arrow and try to help pull, but it won't budge! How deep into the rock has it gone?!

"While you struggle, another one of your crewmates is disappearing."

Luffy and I start at his words and I look back to Lily. I strain my eyesight as I just manage to catch a glimpse of long hair and a slender body. "St-Stop it!" Luffy screams. "Robin!"

I jump back to the ground to run over to the Lily, but when I look up again, Robin's figure has vanished.

My eyes widen as my breath catches in my throat and I skid to a stop. No...No, not Robin…

Baron chuckles, "Who will be next?" he asks himself. "Ah yes, the cook."

I feel myself shut down at his words. No...No not him...anyone but him!

"YOU BASTARD!" Luffy tries to throw his other fist, but Baron pins it to the rock as well.

I take the opportunity to zoom towards the Lily while he's distracted. I increase my speed and leap into the air towards the Lily, using my speed to propel me as far as I can. As I get closer I can see Sanji's limp form in the Lily and rapidly fading. Tears leak from my eyes as I realize that I can't reach; I have no speed left.

"PIKA!"

 _"SANJI!"_

Luffy and I both scream his name as I feel a shooting pain in my back; an arrow from Baron. As I fall, I watch desperately as Sanji disappears completely, no trace of him left. I fall to the ground with a loud thump as the arrow disappears from my body, but still leaves the pain it gave me. I'm very close to the edge of the mountain; that was close.

"Only three more left." Baron says.

"Stop it!" Luffy yells. He raises his leg to kick, but Baron once again pins it to the same rock with a third arrow.

I slowly get to my feet as I continue staring up at the Lily, eyes wide and disbelieving. I stare at the spot that Sanji just occupied, my thoughts swirling. Everything is muffled as I try to comprehend what I had just seen.

Sanji...my partner...my best friend...he just got...no.

No. No! I refuse to accept it! He's still in there! He is! He's got to be! He wouldn't let something like this beat him! He's fine! Luffy and I are gonna get him and the others out of there and we'll all be fine! We'll-

My train of thought stops as Luffy's left leg is pinned to the rock, leaving him completely helpless. I feel my hope slowly drain out of me like a sieve and shake my head.

No! Don't think like that! Luffy will come through, he always does! He won't let this bastard take our friends!

"Since you can't see anymore, I'll just tell you." Baron says and I immediately try to drown him out. I lower my ears and cover them as best I can with my paws, but somehow his voice still comes through.

Don't listen to him! Don't listen!

"The man with the long nose has just died."

No, stop! Stop it!

"The other woman has just died."

Shut up! Just shut up right now! They're not gone! They're fine! They're just stuck in there and waiting for us to free them!

"The last of your crewmates is starting to disappear."

I hear Luffy scream out Zoro's name and he leans back. With a loud cry, he stretches out his neck towards the Lily. I uncover my ears and a hopeful smile comes to my face. Baron tries shooting arrows at him, but he swiftly dodges them with his neck.

Yes! Thank Azelf! I knew it! Luffy will win! I knew I shouldn't have doubted him! I knew-

My smile slowly fades as Luffy's head runs out of stretch. He screams out Zoro's name one last time before his head snaps back and his entire body slams into the rock, his limbs still pinned by the arrows.

I feel my legs almost give out from under me as Baron walks towards him. "Your Swordsman is dead."

And with that, I feel my soul scream in agony.

This can't be happening! It can't be real! This is all just a bad dream! Yeah, that's it! It's just a nightmare! I'm gonna wake up in a few minutes and I'll be on the Merry with Sanji and Nami and Usopp and Chopper and everyone will be happy and-

"You have no friends left; you are utterly alone on the vast Grand Line."

No! No this isn't real! Don't listen to him, he doesn't even exist! That's right, none of this real! You're just having a really bad dream! Any minute now you're gonna be back on the ship with your friends who _aren't_ mad at each other! There'll be no more fighting, no more stupid islands, just happiness as we sail the Grand Line! We're a family and a family doesn't leave each other!

Yeah, that's right! We're gonna go on tons more adventures and find new places and-and-

"Does it hurt to be without friends?" Baron's words make my thoughts skid to a halt as Luffy tries to get up. "You've lost all your crewmates, all your friends." Baron hisses. "That reality will never change."

My eyes widen as my paws hang limply by my sides. You mean this is...reality? I'm not dreaming? This...this is real? Everything on this island...has been real?

"What are you going to do now?" Baron asks. "If you go on living, a life of pain and loneliness awaits you."

A huge lump forms in my throat as reality begins to tighten its hold. Are they really gone...are they all really…?

"Or do you wish to follow your dear friends?"

What happens next seems to happen in slow motion for me. Luffy says nothing, and falls limply to the ground, and I feel something snap.

No...no no no...this can't be...can it…? They're not...Sanji...Nami...Chopper...everyone…

Luffy...Luffy get up...c'mon, get up Luffy...you have to...you can't...

No...no this can't be real… it's not real...it's not…

I feel myself fall backwards off the mountain; my eyes roll back into my head and everything goes dark.

* * *

I'm floating in a familiar royal blue room. I'm back in my mind. I can see my reflection in the clear floor; I haven't seen this place since Skypiea.

I look out and see the familiar circular window from before but it's an eerie shade of red. Everything is a huge blur; I can't see or hear anything clearly. Just red, black, and a whole lot of lightning.

I make out a bunch of dark shaggy figures that look like giant blobs of ink flickering in and out of the window. I have no strength to question what I'm looking at and deflate in the air. I simply turn away and continue floating; I just...don't care anymore.

I've lost everything. Luffy's given up, my crewmates are gone, and worst of all, the last thing I ever said to them was that I hated them. Even though they couldn't understand it, I just left them after screaming at them. What kind of friend am I?

Maybe I can just curl up in here forever. I'd rather face loneliness in here than out in the world; the world that has nothing left for me. At least here I can't feel any physical pain. I can just wallow here, alone with my thoughts; it's what I deserve after what I did.

I have no friends; no family; no home; no memories.

I have nothing.

I close my eyes as the faint crashes of thunder and rumbling barely emanate from the window. I can hear muffled crashes as lightning strikes. I cease all movement and float limply through nothing, deeper into my mind.

What's the point of existing...if I'm alone?

…

…

...

"...ka…"

"...i...ch…"

"...p...k...an…"

My eyelids twitch as I slowly open them a crack. What's that noise?

"...p...kac…"

"...pik...h...n…"

It's coming from the window. I grudgingly look back at it to see more of those blobs coming towards me only to be sent back by the lightning. Were those things talking? No, that can't be.

"...st...pik...ple…"

"...us...pi...ch...ca…"

"...op...it...ver…"

What the heck am I listening to? Those blobs sure do talk weird.

I look up at the window to see a blob wrap itself around my body like tentacles. It's trying to hold me down. The lightning in the window intensifies making the blob let go.

"...pika...c...n"

My ears twitch as the voices become a bit clearer. I can't tell who it is, the voice still sounds really muffled. I've drifted a good ways away from the window already; it's about the size of a tangerine.

 _'Nami...'_ I squeeze my eyes shut and turn away from the window. I'm just imagining things. I have nothing left out there. All my friends are dead.

"...ika...cha…"

My ears twitch again.

"...pika...chan…"

"Pika-chan…"

"Pika-chan!"

I flinch as the voice becomes louder, my eyes fully opening. I turn around and start to drift slowly back towards the window. Who is calling me? Who could possibly be saying my name? More black blobs come into the window and start surrounding me, making the lightning grow even more intense causing them to back away.

"Pika-chan!" The voice calls again. "That's enough!"

My head shoots up. The voice is finally starting to become clear. _'S...Sanji…?'_

No...it can't be...I saw him get-

"Please Pika-chan! Please come back!" Wait...that voice sounds like...Nami? How is this-

"Snap out of it, damn rodent!" Zoro? No, no this can't be real, it can't be!

"Sanji! Be careful!" That's Chopper...oh Arceus, can this really be real?

Wait, what does he mean by 'be careful'? Is something happening to Sanji? Are we still in danger? What's going on?!

"Pika-chan!" I hear Sanji again. Another blob in the window wraps its tentacles around me, not letting go when the lightning grows this time. "Pika-chan, we're sorry!"

My eyes widen.

"We're sorry for all the fighting we did; we didn't mean to make you so upset!"

I try to make my way back to the window as fast as I can, but it's like I'm swimming through molasses.

"We shouldn't have betrayed your trust like that! We're sorry Pika-chan, we really are!" I can hear genuine desperation in his voice, like he's at the end of his rope.

"Please Pika-chan, stop this!"

What? What does he mean? Stop what?

"It's over Pika-chan! Luffy won! We're safe now, we're all safe!"

As I get closer, I can pick up grunts of pain coming from Sanji around his words; what's going on out there?!

"You can stop now! The Baron is gone, we're all okay! It's over, I promise!"

I move as fast as I can, reaching towards the window. The blobs in the window suddenly begin to slowly sprout limbs and become more distinct until they're silhouettes. I know those figures...

With one final lunge, I thrust myself back into consciousness just as Sanji lets out one final yell.

"PIKA-CHAN, STOP!"

I let out a gasp as feeling comes back to my body and my vision slowly begins to clear. "Pika...?"

The lightning is gone and I can see the sun rising just over the ocean. I'm in the jungle close to the beach, we're not on the mountain anymore; when did that happen? Oh yeah, I fell before I passed out, right?

I feel something holding me tightly, pressing my back against someone. I look down to see familiar arms wrapped around me. I turn around and look up to be greeted by Sanji's relieved smile. "Pika-chan…" he breathes.

"Pika?" Oh my Arceus what happened to him? He looks and sounds exhausted and he's covered with...with...burns…

My eyes widen as Sanji slumps with a loud sigh of relief and I look around. The Lily Carnation and Baron are nowhere in sight and the jungle is, well, destroyed. Everything is destroyed. The ground is burnt black and boulders are shattered into pebbles. I can see a visible black trail of destruction, striping the ground and leading right to where Sanji and I are.

Trees are completely tipped over, burned right through their trunks while other have chunks of branches and plant life missing or bearing small patches of flames. I can even see half decimated remains of the resort buildings in the distance.

I look to see the others (with the exception of Luffy of course) all covered with the same burns, but not as badly as Sanji. Sanji's clothes are filthy and he has burns all over him, covering almost every visible part of his skin.

I feel something a little wet and look under my paw at his arm. His sleeve is torn and there are multiple small puncture wounds on his arm dripping blood. I suddenly feel a coppery taste in my mouth. I put my paw to my mouth and it comes away stained slightly red; blood. Sanji's blood.

I freeze as everything in my mind starts to make sense; the lightning, the blobs, the voices… Oh Arceus...oh my Arceus, what have I done?!

I flinch as Sanji puts his hand on my head. He smiles down at me. "Good to have you back."

That hardly comforts me. The words practically bounce off me as multiple emotions course through me. Guilt, joy, relief, anger, fear, it's all too much!

Sanji gently lifts me up and hugs me. "You really surprised us there." He says. "Who knew you had that much power in you?"

I suck in a breath and push away, leaving his arms and backing away from him. "Pi...pikachu!" I whine looking at him with frightened eyes.

"Pika-chan-" Sanji reaches towards me but I shake my head and shy away. I have no idea what to feel or think right now! I just went on a grief-stricken rampage! I nearly decimated this island and my friends with it! How am I supposed to get around that?!

I crouch down and cover my head with my paws. "Pika pi...pika pi..." I do the only thing I can think to do: apologize.

 _'I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'msorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry!'_

I keep babbling those two words over and over, tears beginning to stream down my face.

"Pika-chan!" I feel Chopper rush over and place his paws on my back. "You've got to calm down! Take deep breaths, okay?"

I glance at him and realize that my vision is blurry, and not from my tears. My heart is pounding loudly and my breathing is uneven; I'm probably close to hyperventilating. I'll probably pass out if this keeps up, and I don't want to risk going crazy again.

I manage to slow my breathing, though they still sound shaky, but my shivering and tears don't stop. I still feel uneasy. I'm terrified and confused and I don't know why!

Sanji slowly comes over to me and goes to pick me up but stops halfway. He looks at me, making sure it's okay, takes my silence as a yes, and gently picks me up. He cradles me and stands up on shaky legs.

I barely hear someone say to head back to the ship. I simply stare into space as everyone around me starts moving, leaving the destroyed island behind.

* * *

 **...Don't make your Pokémon have mental breakdowns, kids...**


	78. Secret Island Omatsuri II

**Alright, time to keep this ball rolling and get some answers and some legit TLC. Just FYI I only took one semester of psychology so concerning stuff about Pika-chan's mind is a bit...meh for me. Just bear with me, kay?**

 **Anyway, this chunk of the story starts right after Luffy wins the fight, and I'd like to think that how it went is open to interpretation now once I properly explain what happened to Pika-chan. So grab a pillow and a blanket, cause it's about to get angsty and fluffy up in here!**

 **OH! And if you want to add MORE salt to the wound, if you take the events of 'Perks of the Smallest' into account, this movie technically happened not long after Pika-chan's birthday. Yikes...**

* * *

When Luffy saw his crewmates' faces over him, he couldn't describe the amount of relief and happiness he felt. They were all safe! They were all back here with him, where they belonged! Even those other pirates were safe and sound! And Baron would never touch them or any other pirate again.

However, his relief was shattered once Sanji asked that fateful question. "Hey, where's Pika-chan?"

Luffy's eyes widened; he faintly remembered the mouse watching from afar as he was pinned to that rock. It was dangerously close to the edge of the mountain. He remembered the look of horror on its face; thinking about it now, he probably made the same face when Baron became the Lily Carnation.

He thought hard (something he wasn't very used to) and remembered that Pika-chan was nowhere to be found when he challenged Baron once again. Not even Moustache Pirate saw the tiny creature. Where could it have gone? Could it have fallen off the mountain?

Everyone began glancing around for a sign of the rodent. Pika-chan was never one to just wander off without warning. It couldn't have gotten far, but where was it? Luckily, the answer was given to them fairly quickly as a pillar of electricity shot into the air from the island below, which they quickly realized was smoking heavily in several areas.

"What the hell?" Zoro exclaimed.

"Was that lightning?" Chopper asked. The wind suddenly picked up as they realized that dark and dangerous storm clouds had been surrounding the entire island all this time.

Luffy slowly stood up as Pika-chan's face became clearer in his mind. The look of pure fear and regret...the look of someone who was about to snap.

Without a word he took off towards the lightning pillar, everyone else close behind. As they descended the mountain, sounds of destruction could be heard around them. The sound of burning, stone being crushed and wood splitting.

They arrived in the city to a horrid sight; almost everything was destroyed. The buildings were smashed beyond repair, only a few walls and doorways left behind. Even the cement pavement was cracked and dented, water spouting from a few areas where the water system had been completely compromised. Pillars of smoke could be seen in the distance, stretching across the entire island. It was as if the entire island had been bombed in one fell swoop.

"W-What happened here?" Usopp asked.

"A fight?" Zoro suggested.

Sanji looked around at the ruined street when his eyes fell upon the street lamps. They had completely exploded, shattered glass scattered along the streets. It was as if...they had been overloaded.

Everyone flinched as the giant pillar of lightning appeared again, but this time, it was followed by a scream. A knot formed in the pit of Sanji's stomach as he bolted forwards towards the pillar, closely followed by the rest.

As they ran, the destruction didn't seem to end; it even led into the jungle where multiple trees had already been felled or burned, leaving wide areas looking like a forest fire had ripped through. The bridges over the canal were completely smashed and the water was leaking out rapidly from the ruined waterway.

Multiple bodies littered the ground, all of them nearly burnt to a crisp as they lay among multiple plants (the hell did those come from?). None of Baron's men were anywhere to be found, just the unconscious figures of other visiting pirates. They got closer to the lightning until they reached another area of the ruined resort. Two pirates were pressed against a wall, shivering in absolute fear as the air crackled with electricity.

They all skidded to a halt to see a large bolt of lightning burst through the wall of an already ruined building, landing between them and the two strangers. The electricity was almost as bright as the sun, causing a few of the Straw Hats to shield their eyes.

"What is that?!" Nami screamed.

"A great display of power!" Robin responded loudly over the lightning. "If we get any closer we surely won't live!"

"Not helping, Robin!" Usopp commented.

The lightning finally faded, or faded enough for everyone to see. The two pirates against the wall shrieked. "No! Stay back!"

"Don't touch us you-you...you yellow demon!"

The Straw Hats' eyes became wide. "Yellow…" Nami trailed off.

"Demon…?" Chopper finished.

The lightning spiked again, but didn't become as bright as the source slowly approached the two helpless pirates. At that moment, Sanji could make out two pointy ears and a tail he knew so well.

"I-Is that...Pika-chan?" Chopper whimpered.

"It can't be!" Nami protested.

"Do you know any other rodent that looks like that?" Zoro responded.

"But...But why is it attacking those pirates?" Usopp asked.

"And what's with that lightning?" Nami added. "I've never seen this amount of electricity in one place, not even from Pika-chan!"

Sanji's eyes widened as Pika-chan continued to approach the pirates with no sign of stopping. These pirates were clearly helpless! No Devil Fruit powers or anything to defend themselves! Why was Pika-chan doing this? It never attacked unless provoked, and never at this caliber! Judging by the injuries of the other pirates, if Pika-chan attacked them from this close, they wouldn't make it!

Sanji took a few frantic steps towards the mouse as the lightning began to intensify once again. "Pika-chan! Stop!" Sanji yelled.

Pika-chan stopped and faced him abruptly with a growl. Everyone froze once they got a good look at the mouse. It's entire being was surrounded with lighting, constantly pulsating yellow electricity. It's fur was completely on end, crackling with lightning.

But Pika-chan's face was what really made them stop in their tracks, even making Sanji back away slightly. Its lips were pulled back in a fierce snarl, baring its fangs like a wild animal. Its eyes were bright red, devoid of any emotion except anger. With the darkness of the sky and the accompanying growls and deep breaths the mouse was making, it looked like something completely different. It looked nothing like the cute mouse they knew and loved.

Pika-chan snarled fiercely at them, as if it didn't recognize them. Sanji's eyes widened as the mouse faced him fully and charged at him at top speed lightning still surrounding it. Its pace didn't hinder in the slightest; it was fully intending to hit its target with everything it had.

Sanji moved out of the way just in time as Pika-chan shot past him like a bullet. It crashed through a tree with ease as if it were paper and skidded to a stop before randomly changing direction and speeding off. "Watch out!"

The rest of the Straw Hats dove out of the way as Pika-chan zoomed past them. Though they escaped being hit, that didn't stop the lightning emerging from Pika-chan from burning them.

Everyone watched as Pika-chan knocked down multiple trees in a row before stopping. It then raised its head high and let out a loud cry, making everyone cringe. It sounded rough and distorted, like it was coming from a completely different creature; and combined with Pika-chan's look of malice, it sounded terrifying.

"Pika-chan…" Chopper said softly.

"Is it saying anything?" Usopp asked Chopper.

The reindeer shook his head, shaking madly. "No...it's just...screaming..." He answered shakily. "It's screaming in anger...like it's in pain...it's terrible!"

"Could the Baron have done something to it?" Nami asked.

Chopper strained his vision and looked at the mouse from all angles as best he could. "I don't see anything on Pika-chan! I don't think it's being controlled!"

"Chopper!" Zoro yelled as Pika-chan charged at the tiny reindeer.

Chopper shrieked and bolted out of the way, running to the safety of Usopp. The sniper scooped up the reindeer and ran, just barely dodging a large stray bolt from the rampaging mouse. But that wasn't the only one he had to dodge. Even he didn't escape unscathed until he got far enough away from Pika-chan.

"Stop Pika-chan! Please!" Usopp pleaded.

"It's us, Pikachu! Calm down!" Robin said firmly and loudly over the lightning. The archeologist made to cross her arms but decided against it. There was no way she could effectively hold down the mouse without being hit.

She quickly ran out of the way of a large stray lightning bolt and Luffy ran straight towards the mouse. No one protested because they knew Luffy had nothing to fear being made of rubber.

"That's enough!" Luffy bounced into the air and pounced right on Pika-chan. Lightning surrounded him harmlessly as he wrapped his arms multiple times around the mouse. "Stop! It's over Pika-chan!" Luffy yelled.

However, with his still stinging injuries muting his strength, Pika-chan was easily able to escape from his rubber grasp. It took off again, the force knocking Luffy a good few feet back. The Straw Hats all scattered as multiple trees fell one by one to the great electric force.

If their safety wasn't at stake they would all probably be marveling at the display. They had never seen Pika-chan put out this much power before, but that made the situation all the more terrifying. If this was Pika-chan's true power, how were they supposed to stop it? This wasn't the Pika-chan they knew! Pika-chan would never attack them like this!

"Why?" Chopper whimpered, crawling on all fours and wincing at his fresh burns. "Why is Pika-chan doing this?"

"It's not attacking deliberately." Zoro observed. "Its just throwing itself at anything that moves, no strategy or plan whatsoever."

"It's as if Pikachu's morals are completely absent." Robin agreed. "It doesn't care what gets in the way; all it knows is that it must attack anything and everything in sight."

Nami looked at the screaming mouse, "But...but why would Pika-chan let this happen?" she asked softly.

No one answered as the tiny pirate let out a loud scream once more. Pika-chan was the kindest soul among all the Straw Hats. It made friends with almost everyone they came across and would never do anything to hurt anyone unless the situation demanded it!

 _This_ Pika-chan was acting like a monster. A blackhearted creature that was willing to take out everything in sight just for the purpose of destruction.

Pika-chan charged towards the pirates once again, its electricity showing no signs of stopping.

Sanji grit his teeth; he couldn't stand watching this anymore! He ran up to his partner, right near its designated path. "Pika-chan! That's enough!" Sanji yelled. He barely dodged as the mouse picked up on his voice and charged at him.

Nami ran towards the mouse's path as well. "Please Pika-chan! Please come back!" She yelled. The mouse turned sharply and charged at her.

She barely moved only for Zoro to step in and swipe at it with Wado. "Snap out of it, damn rodent!" The blade was stopped by the sheer amount of lightning and Usopp lunged out of the way just in time as Pika-chan changed directions again.

Pika-chan didn't stop and plowed through another tree, many more quickly following once again. At this point, everyone was sure that at least two thirds if not more of the plant life on the island was destroyed beyond repair, not counting the obliterated resort.

Sanji grit his teeth; they had to stop Pika-chan somehow and get it to calm down! At this rate, the whole island would be destroyed! Luffy's injured rubber body already proved ineffective at keeping the tiny creature contained. Someone uninjured needed to approach it, and someone who he was certain Pika-chan would listen to.

 _'I'm coming, partner!'_

Sanji bolted towards the mouse; this was going to hurt, but it had to be done. "Sanji! Be careful!" Chopper yelled, eyeing the lightning bolts flying everywhere.

Sanji narrowly ran around them as the mouse circled around. Now was his chance! "Pika-chan!" Sanji ran up just Pika-chan was about to pass him and scooped it up from the side. Sanji grit his teeth as he pressed Pika-chan's back against his chest, pinning its small arms to its sides.

"Sanji!" Nami and Usopp cried as lightning enveloped Sanji instantly.

The cook staggered on his feet, his back eventually meeting a half broken tree and he sank to the ground, refusing to let go of his partner. What was going on? Why would Pika-chan, the cynical but caring little mouse cause this much destruction?

Pika-chan's screams grated on his ears making him inwardly cringe. It sounded so angry and yet so sad at the same time.

Sanji's eyes widened as memories assaulted him; he remembered everything.

Flashes of Pika-chan yelling at them and running off in tears came to his mind. He remembered the mouse yelling, throwing a tantrum, crying...and screaming three words drenched in hate and disgust.

 _'Oh no...Pika-chan...what have we done…?'_

Pika-chan wasn't upset or angry...it was broken, hysterical. It didn't know what was what anymore. It thought nothing and no one cared about it and it cared about nothing and no one in turn.

He had to tell the mouse something it needed to hear. He needed to remind it that they were still here.

"Pika-chan!" Sanji yelled through the pain. "Pika-chan, we're sorry!"

Everyone's eyes widened at his words.

"We're sorry for all the fighting we did! We didn't mean to make you so upset!" Sanji managed. Pika-chan screamed out, trying to squirm out of Sanji's grasp, releasing lightning all the while. It managed to slip its tiny arms out and push against his arm, trying to pry itself out of his grasp.

"We never should've betrayed your trust like that!" Sanji continued. "We're sorry Pika-chan! We really are!"

Pika-chan snarled and sunk its teeth into Sanji's arm. Sanji grit his teeth in pain as he felt the mouse's tiny fangs easily penetrate his clothes and skin. He could feel blood dripping from the wound already. But when he refused to let go, Pika-chan released him and continued to scream and struggle madly.

Nami started to run towards him but Zoro stopped her. "Stay back." he ordered.

"But we can't just watch!" she protested.

"It's alright." Luffy said.

Nami looked at her captain. "Luffy…"

Luffy stared hard at Sanji and Pika-chan, his jaw tight. "Sanji will handle this."

The crew grudgingly obliged as they watched the two struggle. All the lightning danced around Sanji as Pika-chan screamed and growled endlessly, its eyes still empty and angry. It flailed wildly and struggled like a possessed child, pounding on Sanji's arms with its paws and biting him multiple times as it tried to escape and cause more destruction.

"This is awful..." Nami said softly. "It's like the whole world is causing it pain…"

"I may not know much about Pika-chan's powers but this...this just doesn't look or feel right at all!" Usopp commented in a frightened voice.

Chopper hid behind Zoro's leg, tears brimming his eyes. "Do you think Sanji can get Pika-chan to stop?" he asked.

"If anyone can get that rodent to calm down, he can." Zoro answered, gazing hard at Sanji.

Sanji finally started to let out grunts of pain as the constant burning refused to cease. It felt like he was stuck in an eternal flame that was punching and kicking him every chance it got. But he couldn't stop now! Pika-chan was in there somewhere; he had to get his partner to come back somehow!

"Please Pika-chan, stop this!" He nearly pleaded. "It's over Pika-chan! Luffy won! We're safe now, we're all safe!"

Pika-chan snarled in response, not even acknowledging him, digging its paws into his skin.

"You can stop now! The Baron is gone, we're all okay! It's over, I promise!"

Pika-chan still showed no signs of stopping. In fact, it seemed to only get more riled up as it began to bite his arm again.

"Oh no!" Nami exclaimed looking at the sky. The clouds were gathering right over Pika-chan and Sanji, ready to drop a massive lightning bolt. "Sanji! The storm!"

"Cook! Get out of there!" Zoro yelled.

Sanji glanced at the sky and stared at his screaming partner. Was Pika-chan really gone? Had the mouse truly snapped? No! He refused to believe it! Pika-chan had to come back! It had to! He wasn't going to leave his partner like this!

"PIKA-CHAN! STOP!" Sanji bellowed, squeezing Pika-chan as tightly as he could.

The mouse suddenly gasped and froze. "Pika...?"

Everyone watched as the lightning disappeared and Pika-chan's eyes slowly changed from red to black again. The clouds began to clear away and everything was in silence.

Pika-chan looked behind it at Sanji, its expression back to normal. "Pika?"

"Pika-chan..." Sanji breathed in relief. Thank God...for a second there he thought he had lost his partner again. Pika-chan's face was drawn with confusion as it stared at Sanji and took in the destroyed environment.

"Good to have you back." Sanji said softly patting the mouse.

"Pika?" Pika-chan looked at him and took in his appearance. The mouse's eyes grew wide as it began putting the pieces together.

Sanji quickly lifted the mouse into a hug hoping to comfort Pika-chan and himself. "You really surprised us there." Sanji said, careful to keep the pain from the lightning out of his voice. "Who knew you had that much power in you?"

The mouse suddenly pushed away from him and stumbled to the ground on all fours. It crouched with wide frightened eyes as it took in all the destruction it had caused. "Pi...pikachu!" It cried.

Sanji instinctively reached towards his partner, "Pika-chan-"

That turned out to be a mistake, as Pika-chan immediately flinched away from him, looking more scared than ever. It squeezed its eyes shut, tears pricking its eyes, probably trying to block out what it had just done.

Sanji watched as the mouse crouched and covered its head with its front paws and shook its head. "Pika pi...pika pi…" It whimpered. Tears began to flow freely as its soft words quickly escalated into loud cries and sobs. "Pika pi! Pikapipikapipikapipikapipikapipikapi!"

Sanji couldn't take his eyes off the hysteric mouse, even when Chopper entered the picture. "Pika-chan! You've got to calm down! Take deep breaths, okay?" Chopper said, his tiny hooves on Pika-chan's back and speaking firmly but not in a demanding tone.

Thankfully, Pika-chan did as the doctor said and opened its eyes, Chopper rubbing soothing circles on its back. It began breathing deeply and it seemed to calm down. But despite this, tears were still flowing down its face and it looked completely traumatized, not that anyone could blame the poor creature.

Sanji reached towards the mouse again, but slowly, and stopping as he neared Pika-chan. He waited, making sure Pika-chan wasn't going to freak out, and gently picked up his partner. It was shaking immensely and didn't acknowledge Sanji at all. It just stared blankly ahead, the shock finally settling in.

Sanji cradled his partner carefully and slowly stood up. That lightning had done a number on him, but he could say that he'd had worse.

"Let's go." Everyone looked up as Luffy spoke softly. "We should get back to the Merry."

Everyone silently agreed and moved without a word.

* * *

The next thing I know, we're on the Merry. Sanji and Chopper take me to the galley to get checked over. If I wasn't so out of it, I'd probably be protesting that Chopper should check Sanji first, seeing as he got the brunt of the lightning ( _my_ lightning).

Once he's done I wordlessly hop off the table and walk slowly out of the room. Thankfully, no one approaches me, not even Luffy. I guess they all figured out that I need some space right now. In fact, everyone looks like they need some space; I don't blame them.

That island...there was no way we would _ever_ forget that.

I make my way below deck, as low as I can possibly go where no one will find me and curl up in the darkest corner there. I stare at the blank wall and attempt to gather my thoughts, but it's no use. After everything that happened, I just can't get it together!

Seeing all my friends be absorbed into that thing and Luffy pinned to that rock...it was just too much! That image will haunt me forever! I have never felt more terrified and alone; not on Drum when Sanji nearly died from a fever, not when Eneru used my body to hurt others, not even after Sandy's death.

And to make matters worse, I pretty much had the equivalent of a mental breakdown. My conscience and morals were completely nonexistent because I flat out refused to acknowledge them. At the time, I thought there was no point to use them.

But what really scares me...is that I know that this didn't _just happen_. I've been trying to deny it ever since I snapped out of it, but deep down, I can't get rid of this.

That wasn't something I just did randomly...that was a part of me. A part of my powers. Which means if I'm not careful...it could happen again.

After seeing the destruction I caused...how can I ever trust myself again? How can the others ever trust me again?

I stay in my corner until the sun goes down, the gentle beat of waves soothing me. Once I'm certain everyone has fallen asleep, I exit the hull, being extra quiet to not catch the attention of whoever's on watch. The sea breeze feels good on my fur.

I make my way to the galley and see an untouched plate of food on the counter. Sanji. I leap up and take advantage of it right away. Tears prick at my eyes as I eat; I forgot how forgiving these guys were.

But just because _they_ forgive me, that doesn't mean I'm going to forgive myself anytime soon.

I finish my meal and I sit on Merry's head, not caring if the one on watch saw me. I stare at the moonlight, watching the gentle waves rise and fall with Merry.

 _ **"You shouldn't blame yourself, it wasn't your fault…"**_

I curl up on Merry's head, finally starting to feel sleepy.

 _ **"You know how much we all love you, don't you?"**_

 _'I know...'_ My eyes start to droop. _'But that makes what I did all the more unforgivable...'_

* * *

The next morning I wake up pretty late, the sun already shining brightly overhead.

I rub my eyes and yawn; was I talking to someone last night? ...Hmm, I don't remember.

I turn around and notice that everyone's going about their business silently. No one's saying a word to anyone, not even Luffy. Although, after a while Luffy at least tries to stay his happy self and spread it to the others, Mesprit bless his soul. I guess we were all affected by That Island in serious ways even if they don't remember.

All that fighting...I keep remembering how awful it felt. The tension, the anger, the hatred...it's something I never ever want to experience again!

But ironically, the tension is still here, only ten times worse. It helps that remorse and guilt are in with the mix, but it still feels terrible. With every day, there's a giant swell of negativity, most likely because one of my friends remembered what they did and said on That Island. It's times like this where I wish I had Luffy's happy naive attitude.

I go back into the hull and sit in my corner; the further I am from everyone, the better it will be.

For the next few days it's the same routine for me. Pace around/sit in the hull of the Merry all day and go to the kitchen when everyone's asleep to get the food Sanji left for me before falling asleep either on Merry's head or back in the hull.

I'm getting so tired of waking up to all the tension! It's steadily decreasing, yes, but to me it still feels like a boatload. I haven't spoken to any of my friends for almost a week because of this. And it doesn't help that my own guilt is still eating me alive.

I curl up in the hull once more and let my eyes droop; just a little more time...and then I can figure out what to do about my friends.

* * *

The Straw Hats all sat in the galley, Usopp and Nami having called them all there.

"I"m sure you know why we're all here." Usopp said.

No one spoke.

Usopp took a deep breath, "Now, before we start, has everyone remembered what happened on that island?"

No one spoke once again; there was no need to answer. The last week had been full of apologies and making up. They remembered every word they said, every mistake they made, and the guilt had been gnawing at them ever since they left Omatsuri.

"So we all remember what happened before we passed out, but not after that, right?" Usopp asked.

Everyone nodded.

"It's been obvious since we woke up that something happened between then and Pika-chan's...rampage." Nami said, stepping forward. "The only ones who know exactly what happened are Luffy and Pika-chan, so…"

Nami stepped towards their Captain. "Luffy? Would you tell us what happened?"

Luffy crossed his arms, "Nope."

Nami started at the blunt response. "Why not?"

"Cause I don't wanna." Luffy answered, turning away from her slightly. "Besides, we got away so what's the point?"

Nami frowned slightly, "The point is that something happened to Pika-chan out there, and we need to know everything that happened to figure out what!" She exclaimed. "So tell us, Luffy; what happened between you and the Baron?"

"It doesn't matter…" Luffy muttered.

"Yes it does!" Nami snapped, slamming her hands on the table. "Pika-chan just about destroyed every living thing on that island because of something it saw!" Nami said, making sure to lower her voice; she knew how sensitive Pika-chan's hearing was. "The only ones who saw whatever was on that island was you and Pika-chan, and Pika-chan won't even come within five feet of us!" Her glare softened ever so slightly but still held intensity. "Please Luffy, tell us what happened, for Pika-chan's sake."

Luffy pouted and let out a soft whine. He really didn't want to bring it up again; hell, if he could help it, he never wanted to remember that again. But Nami had a point. They had to make Pika-chan happy again and this was probably the only way to do it.

"Fine…" he muttered in defeat. He told them about the Baron and how he last saw Pika-chan when the Lily Carnation had absorbed everyone. "After that, that Mustache Pirate saved me and I didn't see Pika-chan until we all did, after I kicked Baron's ass."

Nami nodded in understanding, swallowing the dread she felt after hearing Luffy's story, "The island was in pretty bad shape after your fight; it must've started after you passed out." she said.

Robin nodded, "Most likely; it seemed quite surprised to see us all alive once it regained its senses."

"Wait, how do we know that the Baron didn't just do something to Pika-chan to make it act that way?" Usopp asked.

"It was our cook's voice that seemed to bring Pikachu back to reality." Robin answered. "And there was nothing that suggested that Pikachu had been altered in any way, isn't that right doctor?"

Chopper nodded, "I looked over Pika-chan as much as I could; it's completely fine and healthy," He fiddled with his paws, "Physically, at least…"

Everyone silently agreed; it was clear that their little friend was definitely dragging around some kind of emotional baggage. It was almost weird to think about, since Pika-chan was usually the one helping _them_ with emotional issues.

"Chopper, you said it was just screaming, right?" Usopp asked. "You're certain it didn't say anything?"

Chopper nodded, "I may not be able to fully understand Pika-chan, but there were no words at all, I'm positive." He said, shivering a bit. "It was nothing but screams."

"What kind of screams?" Robin asked, causing everyone to give her a strange look. "Were they screams of terror, anger, or pain? Something along those lines?" She continued, clearing up her question. "No one screams without a reason, so Pikachu must've had one."

Chopper thought for a moment, "They definitely didn't sound _scared_ ," He said. "They did sound pained, but not in a physical sense."

"So, a scream of sadness?" Usopp tried.

"Kind of...but when I remember Pika-chan's face..." Chopper shuddered at the memory.

"It certainly didn't look sad, that's for sure." Nami said.

"It looked like it wanted to kill us." Usopp said, a bit of a tremor in his voice. "I didn't think something as cute as Pika-chan could be that scary."

"That attack pattern it had wasn't normal either." Zoro spoke up. "Like I said, it wasn't attacking deliberately, just throwing itself at anything that moved."

"Strange, considering that Pikachu is much more tactful in combat." Robin agrees.

Zoro nodded, "It was charging in using all the power it had." He said. "That kind of strategy is used as a last resort; a last ditch attempt to take out your opponent in one hit."

Zoro's eyes gleamed ever so slightly. "And you don't pull a move that reckless unless you're desperate...or really pissed off."

Everyone tensed as Pika-chan's face flashed in their minds again. Red eyes...fangs bared...growling and snarling like a feral animal…

"So Pika-chan did all those things...because it was mad?" Chopper asked.

"No." Robin shook her head. "If Pikachu was simply angry it wouldn't have attacked us so bluntly."

"She's right." Sanji said, finally speaking. "I've seen Pika-chan fight dozens of times; it doesn't just rush in like that, even when it's losing."

Chopper's eyes lit up, "That's right, Pika-chan lived with you on the Baratie for a while, right?" Everyone looked at the cook, hoping to hear something useful. If anyone knew Pika-chan better than them, it was him.

Sanji nodded. "Pika-chan has never attacked anyone unless provoked. And even then, it never used a fraction of what it hit us with, even when it absorbed lightning." He lit his cigarette. "For as long as I've known Pika-chan, I've never seen it release that much lightning or attack that viciously…"

Sanji paused and tightened his grip on his lighter. "...and it's never looked at me or anyone like that before."

"Pika-chan is usually pretty peaceful." Usopp agreed. "It hardly ever gets angry; if anything it just gets annoyed."

"But seeing us all…" Nami shuddered. " _Absorbed_ into that thing...wouldn't that make it really angry?"

"It made _me_ angry…" Luffy responded softly. "And...scared too." He admitted sheepishly.

Robin shook her head, "If that alone was the trigger, wouldn't Pikachu have helped you fight the Baron?" she asked. "You said Pikachu disappeared after you passed out."

Luffy nodded, "I don't know where it went." he said.

Robin looked thoughtful, "Perhaps...something happened beforehand that angered Pikachu." she said. She looked at her fellow crewmates pointedly. "What was Pikachu doing before we were all separated?"

Sanji lowered his head; this was it, the moment of truth. "It ran off." he answered. "I don't know how it avoided those bastards but it ran off on its own."

"And why is that?" Robin asked, voicing the curiosity of Chopper and Usopp as well. Pika-chan almost never went off on its own without alerting someone. What could have made it run off unsupervised?

Nami looked at the ground guiltily, "Well…"

Robin looked at her with curiosity, urging her to continue.

"Pika-chan...got really mad." Nami said. "It yelled at us a whole lot and looked really upset and then...it just ran off."

Robin nodded, "Do you know what made it so mad?"

That was when Sanji tensed up, "We…" he took a deep breath as his own guilt began to eat him alive once more. "We were fighting, Zoro, Nami and I. I told Luffy that...that it was his fault…"

"And that was when Pikachu began its, for lack of a better word, breakdown?" Robin asked.

The four silently nodded.

Robin nodded in response, "It seems that Pikachu responded to your fighting, or your emotions as it were."

"Our emotions?" Usopp asked.

"How does that work?" Zoro asked.

"I've seen it happen before." Robin answered, folding her hands on the table. "Pikachu always seems to react strongly whenever one of us is feeling intense emotions, like anger, sadness and the like."

Robin faced her crewmates directly, "It's just a theory, but I believe Pikachu may have a way of sensing our emotional level, and Pikachu feels those emotions in turn; in a sense, our emotions are synchronized with our little friend."

The room became enveloped by silence as Robin's words sunk in. "So...if we feel upset, then Pika-chan feels upset?" Chopper asked.

Robin nodded, "Something like that; I imagine that watching you all fight was simply too much for it."

"Too much for it, how?" Usopp asked. "Pika-chan has seen us fight all the time; are you saying Pika-chan had a meltdown just because of that?"

"It wasn't an ordinary fight though." Nami pointed out softly.

"Nami's right." Robin agreed. "There's a big difference between the spats that you usually have, and the fight you just described."

Chopper tilted his head, "What do you mean?"

"Well, we say mean things to each other all the time, right?" Nami said, receiving a nod from Chopper. "But it's okay because deep down, you know that we don't really mean it. But during a real fight…"

"When you have a real fight, you're _intending_ to hurt the person, not just poke fun at them." Sanji picked up the sentence. "You end up saying really personal and hurtful things in the sense that you mean them."

"I think I understand…" Chopper said, looking thoughtful.

Robin decided to take it from there, "Think of it like this...Imagine you're a child, watching your parents fight; they've never fought like this before and it's quickly escalating with them saying terrible things and their voices rising in volume." Robin said. "The emotional response is usually confusion followed by fear and anger since family relations are supposed to be strong; the child puts their trust in those relations, believing them to be invincible."

Robin frowned. "But when those seemingly invincible bonds are threatened, and by the family members themselves no less, so is the child's trust in that family."

Sanji, Zoro, and Nami all tensed as they remembered their fight. In fact, Nami remembered seeing Pika-chan's face as that was going on; it looked so confused, so lost...scared...

"...I hate you…"

Nami turned to Sanji. "What?"

Sanji's expression was hidden by his hair. "It said 'I hate you'...just before it ran off…"

"How do you…" Usopp trailed off.

Sanji shook his head, "I could just tell...just by the way it looked at us." His voice was still tinged with disbelief as he remembered Pika-chan glaring at him, snarling at him...attacking him. A part of him desperately wanted to wake up to make it all just a bad dream.

Robin closed her eyes in understanding, "Without the emotional bond of the ones supporting the child, how can the child move forward without guidance? How can they trust their loved ones to be there for them?"

Robin opened her eyes. "And if those loved ones were to vanish, leaving the bonds in tatters and the child thinking that they didn't care for them...what does that child have left to care about in the world?"

Everyone's eyes widened as they remembered Pika-chan's screams and actions. How the only thing on its mind seemed to be destruction, no matter who got in the way.

It didn't care who or what it was destroying...because it thought there was nothing left for it to care about.

"Oh God…" Nami whispered, pressing a hand to her mouth. "What have we done…?"

Robin lowered her head, "Witnessing that fight, combined with what it saw during the battle with the Baron... I imagine Pikachu's mental state is not in the best of conditions right now."

"So what can we do?" Usopp asked, almost desperately. "How can we fix this?"

Before Robin could answer, everyone sensed a presence at the entrance of the galley.

* * *

Today I woke up and started the same routine. I paced around the inside of the hull for a few hours until I started to get hungry, earlier than usual. Guess my body is finally starting to tire from having only one meal a day.

I climb out to the main deck to find it...empty? That's weird; it's not lunchtime yet, is it?

I make my way to the galley but freeze once I enter. Everyone's here, sitting at the table. All the tension and guilt is all together in one place. They notice me enter and I take a wary step back. I'm not ready to face them yet!

"Pika-chan…" Chopper says softly, looking heartbroken by the look on my face.

It's then that I take in the bandages around my crew. Sanji has the most out of all, but everyone still has a decent amount on them. Bandages that covered injuries _I_ gave them. My throat tightens and I make to run.

"Pika-chan." Luffy's voice stops me in my tracks. "Talk to us." His tone clearly said I didn't have a choice.

I suck in a breath and squeeze my eyes shut, allowing a few tears to leak out. I slowly face the others again and make myself step into the galley. I stand before them, stock still, shutting my eyes tight and whimpering.

"Pika-chan…" Nami says, her voice nearly cracking. Oh geez, am I making her cry? "Pika-chan, what's wrong? Please tell us." she pleads.

"Are...are you scared?" Usopp asks slowly, in a low voice.

I nod once, still refusing to look at them directly.

"Are you scared of us?" I hear Sanji ask. My eyes open at that. "Do you...not trust us anymore?"

I frantically shake my head, finally looking at them to let them know that I mean it. "Pika! Pikachu…" I trail off and gesture to myself, guilt riddling my face.

Luckily, Chopper understands. "You don't trust yourself." he says slowly. I lower my head, showing that he hit the mark.

"Pika-chan," Sanji starts, "It wasn't your fault-"

"PIKACHU!" 'YES IT WAS!'

My outburst is so sudden that even Zoro flinches. But it's true!

 _I_ was the one who couldn't take being alone; _I_ let myself slip into that state; _I_ flat out denied reality even when my friends were screaming for me to stop! How is this _not_ my fault?!

I fully turn away from my crewmates, debating whether or not to leave. Then, rubber hands pick me up and gently fly me over to the table, plopping me right in the middle of everyone. Luffy keeps his grip on me so I don't try to escape and I glance at everyone surrounding me.

After a few moments of silence, Luffy lets go of me. "See, you're fine." he says.

"Pika?" I look at him in confusion.

"You're not shocking anyone," Luffy says. "So why don't you trust yourself?" My eyes widen at his words; he was trying to prove to me that I wasn't dangerous.

I feel Sanji's hand pat me lovingly, "Pika-chan, you can blame yourself all you like." he says. "But that doesn't change the fact that _we_ caused this to happen." I look up at him.

"Robin and Sanji filled us in before you came in here." Nami says.

I look at Robin who nods solemnly. "Pikachu, I learned that during our friends' ah, scuffle-" A few of them share a guilty glance at one another. "-that you seemed quite bothered. Is this true?"

I frown at the table and nod.

"I've noticed this on other occasions as well; you can feel when one of us is having intense emotions, can't you?"

I nod again. She's right on the money. Robin really is amazingly smart.

"We didn't realize how much our fighting was affecting you." Nami says. "Not even after you got so mad."

"You were so distraught, that seeing us fall to the Lily Carnation was too much for you to bear." Robin continues. "As a result, your mind shut down and went on autopilot, because the emotional strain was simply too great."

My tears start to come back again, confirming her words. I just cannot stop crying. Sanji pats my head again, but his hand slides down to the side of my head followed by his other hand. His fingers gently massage my head as he wipes away one of my tears with his thumb. I grab his hands with both my paws and squeeze tightly.

"I'm sorry…" I turn at Nami's whisper. "I'm so sorry Pika-chan…"

"We all are. We're all sorry." Sanji says softly. Everyone lowers their heads sadly.

Sanji's hands move off my face to take my paws and squeeze them back. "But I owe you another apology…for not noticing how you felt." He avoids my eyes. "You're my partner; out of all of us, I should've realized that something was bothering you right out of the gate."

Sanji lets go of my paws and they tense on the table as he lowers his head. "I'm sorry Pika-chan...I'm sorry I let you down…I'm so sorry..."

I can feel guilt coming off him in waves and his shoulders are shaking making another lump come to my throat. None of my friends should be crying over my actions.

I slowly make my way to Sanji and tap his head, making him lift it to look at me, and I see his eyes starting to glass over. I timidly hold my arms up, offering a hug which he accepts, holding me tightly.

Nami comes over and pats my head. I reach up with my paws and take her hand off my head, holding it close and nuzzling it for a different kind of hug. After a few moments, the hug ends, but my tears are still there. I can't make them stop, and I don't even know if they're happy or sad!

I hear everyone gather around Sanji and me and feel Chopper sit next to me, giving me a small hug as well.

"It's alright." Usopp gives me a pat. "We're all safe and sound."

"It's all over." Chopper says.

"Everything's good." Zoro agrees.

I don't respond, even though their words do make me feel better. I just...I still don't know what to do...

"C'mon Pika-chan." I hear Luffy say. "Give us a smile."

Luffy gently places his hand on my tiny head, followed by the hands of all of my crewmates. I look up and see the smiling faces of my family and feel my sadness dissolve. It was as if they were all covering me with a shield of comfort.

 _ **"Please, don't be sad anymore…"**_

My face slowly melts into a smile. "Pikachu." I say with its usual pep. Luffy grins and everyone else brightens.

"There's the Pika-chan we know and love." Nami says wiping her own tears away.

My smile grows as Sanji picks me up and holds me as close as he can while Chopper, Usopp and Nami join in, making a kind of group hug. I feel my anxiety melt into water and evaporate into nothing, now surrounded by love and joy.

Right then, I knew that I would never feel afraid again. I would never be alone.

No matter what I face in the future...I know my family will always be there for me.

* * *

 **Careful the things you say, children will listen. Careful the things you do, children will see, and learn. Guide them along the way, children will glisten. Children will look to you for which way to turn, to learn what to be. - Stephen Sondheim**


	79. Long Ring

**Hey! Sorry about the delay! I forgot to warn you guys that I had Fall Break last week so I couldn't update! But I'm back and I barely managed to finish this short one by my deadline!**

 **Anyway, time to head into Davy Back, because dammit, after the trauma we endured with the last two chapters, I think Pika-chan deserves some light-hearted comedy! Also, I think I'll be adding more to Perks soon, surrounding Pika-chan's experience with Eneru and a bit more about the aftermath of Omatsuri.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The next few days were completely uneventful, which for me, was pure bliss.

Just sailing calmly on the ocean with no Marines, sea serpents, or other pirates; it was amazing. Plus, after our conversation, I think my crew and I have all grown exponentially closer because of it. Hardly anyone's been in a bad mood. I even found myself showing a lot more open affection for my crewmates, giving out hugs, nuzzles, and sometimes kisses a lot more often (whether they like it or not).

And thanks to this, I've been able to keep my mind off my...rampage. I wrote the whole experience down in my journal, taking up quite a few pages, but I'm still a bit uneasy about the whole thing. I'm almost certain that that wasn't just something that happened. That power was a part of me, so I'm gonna have to be careful from here on out. The last thing I want is for me to be let loose on an innocent island in rampage mode.

Anyway, our restful times came to an abrupt end when one evening, a giant tidal wave rose, ready to swallow us whole. "Full speed ahead!" Usopp shrieks.

"This doesn't look good for us!" Chopper moans.

"There's something in the waves!" Sanji points out. "Is that debris?"

I look and yeah, I'm making something out in those waves. But I don't think those are rocks or any debris I've seen cause I'm pretty sure those are faces!

"Those are Sea Monkeys!" Usopp yells. I have no idea what those are, but if they're causing this wave, I don't want to find out! Thankfully, we catch a good burst of wind and manage to escape the wave, only for the Sea Monkeys to make another one a few minutes later.

This is gonna be a long night…

* * *

The tidal waves finally stop at sunrise so we finally allow ourselves to rest. We're all pretty drenched from the multiple attempts to sink us, but honestly, this feels pretty great! After what we went through, having these over the top shenanigans is almost soothing.

"Emergency alert!" Usopp yells.

"What now?" Nami moans.

"Unknown ship spotted at twelve o'clock!" Usopp responds. I quickly scamper up the net ladder to the Crow's Nest where Usopp's looking out his binoculars. I perch on his shoulder and squint; sure enough, there's a ship in the distance.

"Are they bad guys?" Luffy calls up.

"They picked a bad time…" Chopper moaned.

"Well…" Usopp trails off. "I don't know what kind of ship it is; they don't have a single sail or flag up!"

That catches my attention, "Pika?" I ask.

"Take a look." Usopp says, holding the binoculars out so I can peek through while he continues to look through his goggles. Sure enough, that is the barest ship I've ever seen. It looks completely barren from here.

"It's naked?!" Luffy exclaims; well, that's one way of putting it. "What are they doing out here without sails?!"

"How should I know?!" Usopp retorts, allowing me to hold the binoculars and look through them on his shoulder. "What's even weirder is that the crew is way too small for a ship that size!"

I look closer and he's right; I'm counting no more than six or seven people on that ship, and it's almost three times the size of the Merry! A ship that big should have a crew of at least twenty or more, I'd say!

"And speaking of the crew, they look catatonic or something!" Usopp goes on. "They're just sitting around in a daze!" Yeah, they look pretty out of it. I've never seen a crew look that dejected, especially out on the Grand Line. Just what is up with this ship?

 _Boom!_

My ears twitch and we all turn around to see three giant familiar Sea Monkeys hovering over us. You've got to be kidding me…

"Full speed ahead! Sea Monkeys!" Luffy yells.

"Again?!" Usopp exclaims.

"They must've followed us!" Zoro says.

"Crap, there's no wind!" Sanji yells.

"Quick, furl the sails!" Nami orders. "We have to start rowing!"

Usopp and Luffy hurry and begin to fold the sails, but that wave is way too fast! Plus, we're facing the side! With the amount of time it will take to furl the sails and start rowing, we'll never make it!

I would shock that wave, but that would only make it worse! I'd just fill the wave with electricity, not break it; and the damn thing is too big for me to generate enough electric heat to evaporate it! There's gotta be a way to-

My mind skids to a halt. I feel some kind of instinct stir inside me along with a voice.

 ** _'You don't always need electricity to take out water.'_ **

My eyes fall on my tail and I suddenly know what to do.

"Hurry, that wave's right on top of us!" Zoro yells.

"It's too late!" Usopp yells.

"We're gonna die!" Chopper wails.

I scramble along the crow's nest and run along the sails. I'm gonna have to get some good air for this to work! I make my tail iron and leap towards the wave. "Pika-chan!" Everyone yells. I focus and begin to somersault towards the wave as fast as I can. Once I reach the water, I slam my tail into the water and the wave completely splits.

"W...What the hell…?" Zoro stutters.

"P-Pika-chan...completely obliterated that wave!" Usopp exclaims.

The Sea Monkey's flail and squeal in shock as their exposed in the air. Now's my chance! I use my speed to reach one of the monkey's heads and leap high into the air. I charge up, and let loose a giant electric attack, frying all the monkeys and leaving them burned and crispy in the water.

Usopp's jaw hits the floor and everyone else stares at me with wide eyes. Luffy is the first to break out of his shock, "That was awesoooooome!" He cheers. He stretches his arms out to me and grabs me, safely bringing me back to the ship before I land in the water.

"That was so cool, Pika-chan!" Luffy says, still holding me. "That was amazing! That was awesome! You're so awesome!" He continues repeating those same phrases as he happily tosses me up and down and spins around holding me high; I can't help but giggle and squeal as he does so. That _was_ pretty awesome, if I do say so myself!

Our celebration is cut short as the other ship slowly sails by us, the pirates onboard all basically running in circles with no clue of what they're doing. "Look, another pirate ship!"

"Hurry, we have to swipe their treasure!"

"Yeah, but how do we turn?"

"Where's the navigator?!"

"What navigator?!"

We all stare as they pass by without harming us at all as they're too busy arguing. "Wow, that's got to be the worst crew ever." Luffy comments, still holding me.

"Pika." I agree.

The other ship sails out of sight, and the Sea Monkey's aren't bugging us anymore so we continue on our way.

* * *

We sail on peacefully for a while until Nami announces that we've entered the next island's climate zone. Guess that means we'll be reaching an island soon.

"Any islands ahead, Robin?" Usopp calls, having switched with Robin in the Crow's nest.

"We've been approaching one for a while now." Robin says.

My ears droop and Luffy and Usopp sweatdrop, "Why didn't you tell us?!"

"Pika…"

"You are way too secretive, Robin!" Usopp says. "Next time, tell us if there's an island; like this!" He gestures to Luffy.

"Land ho! Land! I see land!" Luffy yells loudly.

"Now you try!" Usopp yells up to Robin.

"The fog looks pretty thick." She says.

"Don't ignore me!"

"Fog?" Nami asks, "That's not good."

"You know, I can't stop thinking about that ship." Usopp says.

"Pika?" I ask, looking up at him.

"They didn't have sails, a captain, a navigator, or anything! What kind of self-respecting pirates would go out to see like that?" I put a paw on my chin; they certainly were a strange sight to behold, even by Grand Line standards.

"Maybe they got into a battle and lost." Zoro suggests. "Captain got killed and their ship got plundered." Yeah, maybe, but-

Usopp shakes his head. "But their ship was in perfect condition; no signs of battle!" Yeah, that! What kind of thing could've happened to them to make them lose so many crewmembers and vital parts of their ship? What happened to their other crewmates...?

"You okay, buddy?" I flinch as Usopp suddenly gives me a pat, making me realize that I'm a bit tense. Man, am I still uneasy? I look up at him and nod, and that seems to satisfy him.

Our ship eventually enters the fog, but luckily it's not terribly thick and it isn't long until an island comes into view. I involuntarily shiver; I just hope this island is nothing like That Island.

Sanji picks me up, probably having noticed my discomfort, "Relax, we'll be fine." He soothes, stroking my head. I give a smile with a nod, and we drop anchor.

The fog clears, revealing a very unusual island. It's completely flat and empty, just one big grassy field littered with tall trees; it's like one big open field. I suddenly feel at ease at the sight; I've always been drawn to nature and this peaceful place is doing wonders for me.

I leap off the ship from Sanji's arms and my eyes widen at the soft grass under my paws. This place is amazing! I squeal happily and lie down, rolling and nuzzling in the soft grass; this is what I needed! I feel so much more at ease!

"Well, at least one of us likes it here." Nami comments.

"I think this is the happiest Pikachu has been in a while." Robin agrees.

"Awesome! Wait up, Pika-chan!" Luffy calls as he, Usopp, and Chopper join me. I roll near one of the trees and a familiar scent fills my nose; I smell apples! I look up at the tree, finally realizing how long and tall the trees are, but I'm not worried. No tree is a match for me!

I get a running start and scamper up the thin trunk, just barely making it to a branch before I run out of speed. I sit on the branch with a sigh and lay eyes on the fruit hanging on the branches and- wait...there are apples? They look more like red peppers!

I take one off and give it a nibble; yep, it's an apple alright. Why does it look so weird? I look down from my perch to see Luffy, Usopp and Chopper climbing on a super tall bear walking on two legs.

Long trees, long apples, long bears...I'm sensing a theme here…

"Hey! I see a house further down this way!" Usopp calls.

"Let's go check it out!" Luffy exclaims. "C'mon Pika-chan!" He stretches his hand up to me and I latch onto his wrist, letting him pull me back down where I climb onto his shoulder.

As we walk, we come across multiple animals, but they're all super long! This island is a real interesting one...are the humans here long too? We make it to the house only to find it empty, but there is a horse here, a horse with a super long neck and legs.

"Wooow! What a pretty horse!" Luffy exclaims.

Chopper giggles as the horse nuzzles him, "She said thank you, and her name is Shelly!" I walk up and touch her nose with my paw, earning a nuzzle as well; she's one affectionate horse!

"Judging by the saddle, her owner must be nearby." Usopp observes. He and Luffy wander off, leaving Chopper and I with Shelly.

"Why are you here all by yourself?" Chopper asks. "Is your owner nearby?" Shelly whinnies sadly and Chopper's face falls. "You don't know where? That sounds awfully lonely…"

"Pika…" I agree. Just then, there's a loud crash, making all three of us jump. Chopper tells Shelly to stay put and we hurry over with Luffy and Usopp.

"What happened?" Chopper asks.

"I think...that bamboo monster was possessed by this spirit." Luffy says. I tilt my head and get closer, revealing an old man lying on the ground.

"A spirit?" Chopper asks.

"Well yeah, what else pops out of trees?" Luffy, I don't think that's what's going on here…

The man gets up, turning out to be very short, and introduces himself as Tonjit. Apparently, those long bamboo sticks were actually stilts he made and Luffy knocked them down. He was trying to make the world's longest stilts but he couldn't get back down after he got up, and the bamboo just kept growing, so much so that he was stuck up there for ten years.

...Wait what?!

"How did you survive for ten years?!" Usopp exclaims.

"The trees around here grow tall is not taller than my stilts, so I lived off their fruit." Tonjit answers.

"He talks about it like it's no big deal…" Usopp says.

"Pika?" I tilt my head.

Tonjit invites us into his house where we find out that this island is called Long Ring Long Land (sheesh that's a mouthful), and that this island is actually part of series of islands that are all connected, forming a ring. However, the rising tides cover the pathways connecting them, making the islands look like ten separate islands. The tides lowers once a year for a few hours, so the people use that time to migrate to a new island every three years. The people that live here are nomadic, so while Tonjit was stuck on his stilts, his whole village moved.

"It's too bad I don't have my hooooooorse, or I could catch up to my villagers." Tonjit says. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, he calls all the animals by long versions of their names. I'm not sure if that's what they're officially called or if it's just what Tonjit does.

Wait...his hoooooorse...his horse? Didn't Shelly say that she didn't know where her owner was? And she was hanging around the house so…!

I spring up and run to the door. "What is it, Pika-chan?" Chopper asks.

I peek out the door and sure enough, Shelly is grazing nearby. "Pika pikachu!" I call, waving and catching Shelly's attention.

Chopper tilts his head, "Shelly? What about Shelly?" He asks.

Tonjit perks up, "Did you say Shelly?"

"Yeah, she's a horse we saw coming over here." Luffy answers.

Tonjit springs to his feet and bolts out the door. Shelly whinnies happily and Tonjit runs over to her, "Oh my sweet little Shelly!" He exclaims. "You waited here all this time for me?" Shelly whinnies and Tonjit hugs her snout. "I'm so sorry if you were lonely all these years!"

I smile at the sight; I could easily see myself in Shelly's position. If Sanji or any of my friends were missing, I'd gladly wait for them to come back.

Shelly whinnies again and rears up, a smile on her face and Chopper laughs, "She wants to go for a ride!" He translates.

Tonjit wastes no time mounting her and soon their galloping off across the field. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper sit back and watch, but I don't want to sit around. I take off and run alongside them, Shelly giving me a friendly whinny in response. She looks so happy, and so does Tonjit! Now they can easily catch up to their other friends and family once the tide lowers! Things are looking up!

All of a sudden, there's a gunshot and my feet suddenly trip under me.

I tumble as I feel something wrap around me and I feel one of Shelly's hooves hit my back before I finally roll to a stop. I open my eyes to see a net wrapped tightly around me and Shelly's, trapping my body between them.

"Shelly! Pika-chan!" I hear Usopp yell. I wince slightly as my back stings from the hit from Shelly's hooves as Usopp and Chopper run towards me.

"Are you guys okay?!" Chopper yells.

Shelly is whinnying in pain and Tonjit is lying on the ground having been thrown off. Shelly's legs begin to kick and flail, making the net tighter around me and cut into my fur, "Pika pi!" I squeal in pain.

"Hold on! I'll get you out!" Usopp says and starts working.

"Oops, I got the rat too!" An obnoxious voice calls out. "Ah well, an extra prize isn't that bad! Now we have a mouse and a horse!"

I open one of my eyes to see Luffy facing down three figures in the distance, a man, a woman, and some kind of creature looking thing.

Who the hell are these clowns?!

* * *

 **IT'S TEAM ROCKET-no it's not XD**

 **Again, pretty short, but the next one should be much longer!**

 **Also, I think we can add two more rules to the 'Ten Commandments of Pika-chan':**

 **'Thou shalt not make Pika-chan have a mental breakdown due to family issues and abandonment trauma.'**

 **'Thou shalt not EVER mention the name or events of Omatsuri in Pika-chan's presence.'**


	80. Davy Back

Once Usopp gets Shelly and I free, he checks me over while Chopper checks out Tonjit. The old man had a pretty nasty fall when Shelly fell. Luckily, Shelly's sitting up okay, so she's not hurt, just a little shaken. Luffy's yelling at the assholes who shot at us, who were apparently trying to steal Shelly; just my luck I'd be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Usopp and I listen in to the conversation more and discover that the man (who has really weird hair and a creepy face) is called Foxy and he wants to challenge our crew to...a Davy Back fight?

Usopp perks up, "Wait...now it all makes sense!" He exclaims. "That messed up crew we saw earlier must've been challenged to a Davy Back fight!"

"Pikachu?" I ask, looking up at him. _'What's a Davy Back fight?'_

"It's a series of matches between pirate crews." Usopp explains, looking at me. "When the match is over, the winning crew can choose to take a crewmember or the Jolly Roger from the losing crew." My ears perk up in alarm.

"These matches can range to almost anything," Usopp goes on. "And if a crewmember is taken they have no choice but to swear their loyalty to their new captain; there's no backing out."

I frown and look at Foxy and his friends; so these guys must have challenged that other ship to a Davy Back fight. Safe to say that those guys lost, and the winners took their Captain, navigator, sails, and Arceus knows what else! Davy Back fights sound super brutal!

"Luffy, stop! We can't fight him!" Usopp yells. "We could end up losing our crew!"

Luffy turns, "What are you talking about?"

Usopp puts me down and hurries towards Luffy, "I know this guy's a jerk, but we can't risk fighting him!"

Foxy laughs a weird laugh (man, everything about this guy is weirding me out…), "Too bad, no take backs!" He says. "You already agreed; 'bring it on' I believe you said?" Foxy glares at him, "Don't tell me you aren't man enough to follow through."

"Am too!" Arceus dammit, Luffy…

Usopp gives him a smack, "You're falling right into his trap!"

"But what about the horse?!" Luffy demands. My ears twitch and I glance back at Shelly; she's still sitting up, but she's not standing. She actually sounds like she's in pain!

"Both of you step aside!" Tonjit yells, standing on shaky legs and aiming a pistol at Foxy. "Shelly waited ten years for me to come back! I won't let you take her!"

"Hey, I know you're angry, but those are pirates, old man!" Luffy yells. "Let us handle this!" Luffy turns back to Foxy, "Alright, jerk! Let's-"

"Shut up!" Usopp shrieks, giving Luffy another smack. "I know this is hard for you to do, but think about what you're doing!"

"I do know what I'm doing!" Luffy shoots back. "I won't let this guy just do what he wants!" He steps forward, "I accept your fight! Bring it!"

Foxy laughs, "That's what I like to hear!" He tosses a spare pistol to Luffy. "Now we just fire these into the air, and our match can begin!" And before Usopp can stop him, both Luffy and Foxy fire their pistols into the air. On the upside, Foxy fired his net-gun, so he and his cronies got netted.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Usopp yells, smacking Luffy over and over. "How could you do something so stupid! You could end up losing your crew! You could lose me!"

"Nuh-uh, I'm gonna win this thing!" Luffy retorts, as optimistic as ever.

Foxy gets out from the net, "Now the Davy Back fight is officially underway!" He announces.

"Good! The sooner I can pound your face in, the better!" Luffy yells.

"I'd like to see you try!" Foxy retorts.

"Yeah? Bring it on, Split-head!" Luffy yells.

A split second later, Foxy is on all fours, looking real depressed. "He doesn't like my haircut…" He whimpers; wow, talk about a mood swing.

"Hey! Apologize to our boss, he's very sensitive!" The girl yells, kneeling by his side.

"He's sensitive about everything." The creature (who looks kinda like a monkey-person now that I look at him) chuckles.

"Look Luffy, I'm as angry about Shelly as you are, but this is madness!" Usopp exclaims, still trying to talk sense into Luffy.

"Good! Use that anger to thrash him!" Tonjit says, giving a thumbs up. Dude, don't add fuel to the fire!

"Leave it to me!"

Too late…

* * *

We make our way back to the ship, where we come upon a drastic change in scenery. Foxy's ship is parked right behind ours, some weird chains boxing the Merry in, and the whole area is set up like a fair. There's food, souvenirs and everything! The rest of the crew were already informed about the Davy Back fight from Foxy's many crewmates (presumably all spoils from Davy Back fights), so at least they're in the loop.

Nami's not too pleased about this, as expected; looks like we'll just have to do this like we always do. Sanji gave her some cotton candy to try and cheer her up, but she's really not up to it, so she gives it to me while Robin gives hers to Chopper.

I nibble on the sweet treat as the girl with Foxy, named Porche, goes over the rules since we're newcomers to this; basically the same stuff that Usopp told me. Afterwards, Foxy lets Luffy choose between having one to three matches, and, like a dumbass, Luffy ends up choosing three.

After Usopp and Nami berate him a bit, we're given a Team Roster to fill out, listing the events and how many people can participate. Well, at least they're not throwing us into this completely blind.

According to the roster, every crewmember can only participate twice, and only the first event allows for the whole crew to participate; the other two only call for three members on the second one, and five for the third. We're gonna have to pick our fights carefully.

After some thinking and comparing, we eventually come to a decision. For the first event, called the Donut Race, we're all going to participate.

For the second event, something called the Groggy Ring (whatever that is), Sanji, Zoro and I are the players. We originally chose Chopper, but Nami pointed out that I could keep Sanji and Zoro from beating each other up with some good shocks; I'm in total agreement with this.

And for the final event, the Run-Roll-Around, Luffy, Nami, Usopp, Robin, and Chopper are the players.

Alright, it seems we have a pretty even playing field for this. Now we just have to win these things. That can't be too hard, right?

The announcer (who has a VERY obnoxious voice), tells us the rules and tells us that we can only use three barrels and two oars to make a boat out of. We divide into three groups, since we have three Devil Fruit users; don't want anyone drowning. Zoro and Chopper are in one group, Sanji, Luffy and I are in another, and Nami, Usopp and Robin are in the last.

We all make our rafts, but only Nami's raft looks like it has a fighting chance. Chopper, for whatever reason, decided to design their raft that relies solely on him running on one barrel like a water-wheel, leaving Zoro to man the rudder. Is he trying to prove something? But then again, it's better than ours.

Luffy took apart all our barrels, leaving us to make a plain flat raft with only our oars to propel us. We look over at Foxy's team and see that Porche's group involves a fishman and a freaking shark!

I sigh; yep, we're doomed…

* * *

The race, in short, was a disaster.

We started out fine, but as it turns out, the Foxy pirates aren't strangers to cheating. They sent exploding barrels after us, Foxy shot things at us, and eventually two out of our three rafts were destroyed. Luckily, Nami's group had a fighting chance, thanks to Nami's logic, Robin's powers, and Usopp's sniping. It actually looked like we were about to win for a while, but Foxy had one more trick up his sleeve.

"Slow Slow Beam!"

A weird pink beam hit Nami's group and all of a sudden they were stuck. Rather, they weren't stuck, they were moving super slow. And I'm not talking about the raft, Nami, Usopp and Robin were moving at a snail's pace; even their speech was slowed down! And of course, this allowed Porche's group to rocket ahead and win. And we were so close…

Luffy grabs Nami's group off the raft once they start moving normally again and we all gather together on the field. "What the heck happened? How'd we lose?" Nami asks.

"It looked like you were about to win, but then you suddenly slowed down!" Luffy explains.

Foxy laughs and walks towards us, "That's not strange at all; it has to do with Slow-Mo-Photons!" He says.

My ears wilt, _'Huh…?'_

Foxy makes his middle and ring fingers touch his thumb and the same light pink light from that beam appears on his fingertips. "When this light touches anything at all it loses a fair amount of velocity, while simultaneously retaining its energy."

"You're dumb; that makes no sense." Luffy says. Dude, just because you don't understand it, doesn't mean it's dumb.

Foxy falls over, depressed again, "He just mocked me…" He whimpers, Porche running over to his side.

Well, there's only one reason why Foxy has such a weird but capable power. "Pikachu!" I say, pointing to Foxy.

Chopper tilts his head, "Did you say Devil Fruit?"

Foxy springs right back up, "That's right! After I ate the Slow Slow Fruit I became a Slow-Motion Man! Now everything that touches my Slow Slow Beam slows down!"

Luffy nods, "Now that makes sense; why didn't you say that before?"

"Now, let me give you a demonstration!" Foxy says, and the weird gorilla thing, named Hamburg, steps up with a small cannon launcher. He launches a cannonball right at Foxy, and Foxy shoots the same pink beam from earlier at the cannonball. A second later, the cannonball is slowly floating through the air; it's slowed down.

"The effects last for about thirty seconds, and then regain it's original speed like nothing happened!" Foxy explains. I see; so this power is really only good for dodging attacks. If you don't move out of the way in time, you'll still get hit.

 _Boom!_

We all jump as Foxy was so busy gloating that he failed to move out of the cannonball's way; thanks for the example, Foxy.

"Well, that explains why they're so overly confident about these games." Sanji says. Yeah, other than the fact that they're a bunch of cheaters!

"It doesn't matter; you still lost!" Porche says.

"Yes; the Donut Race is over and we are the victors!" Foxy says, getting to his feet.

We all gather around the main stage where Foxy stands. "And now, the winning captain will claim his prize; a member of the opposing crew!" The announcer yells.

We all tense as a drumroll plays and we wait for Foxy's decision. "My first selection…"

I grip Sanji's shoulder tightly, and Sanji puts a hand on my back.

"Is none other than...the doctor! Tony Tony Chopper!"

We all freeze and slowly turn to look at Chopper, who is in pure shock. Two Foxy pirates drag him up to the stage kicking and screaming and once he's in reach, Foxy grabs him and starts to nuzzle him. "Such a rare creature; you're even softer than I imagined, and no lightning to get in the way!" Foxy says happily.

My ears perk up as I remember using my lightning during the race; I left Porche's group pretty crispy too. ...Wait! Is he saying that if I didn't shoot lightning he would've picked me?!

Foxy hands Chopper to Porche who starts cuddling the daylights out of him and raises his arms in victory, "He's so damn cute! And he's ours now!"

"Chopper!" Luffy cries.

"Well, I guess Chopper is one of the rarest animals on our crew." Sanji says.

"Or maybe he collects cute things?" Nami suggested.

"You know, I wouldn't rule out a fur fetish." Robin adds.

I can't help but deflate slightly in relief; I'm so glad I shot lightning during the race! I really dodged a bullet here!

Meanwhile, Chopper sits on a chair, tears in his eyes while Foxy puts a mask on him. That's right; Chopper has to pledge his loyalty, like the rules say.

Chopper fights back his tears and stands up, "Listen you guys! I only set sail because of you!" He yells. "I refuse to stay here! Luffy! Pika-chan!"

I perk up.

"You guys invited me! I set sail as a Straw Hat Pirate!" Oh no, Chopper, please don't make this any harder than it already is! "I'm the doctor of the Straw Hats, Tony Tony Chopper, and I won't go with them!"

We all jump as Zoro slams his bottle of wine down on the ground, "Quit your bellyaching Chopper!" He snaps. "It's disgraceful!"

We all turn to him. "You made the decision to become a pirate, and you have to deal with the consequences!" Zoro goes on. "We agreed to the terms of this game; we all did the best we could." He gets up and turns to Chopper. "No pirate worth his salt will sympathize with those tears; a man would suck it up and quietly watch the rest of the game!"

My eyes widen; that's right! The game isn't over yet! If we win the next one we can get Chopper back!

Chopper stands silently for a moment before wiping his tears. He then crosses his arms and sits back down on his seat, "Boil me or cook me alive! Give me your worst you bastards!" He yells.

"Atta boy." Zoro says. "Now let's get the second event started."

Sanji lights his cigarette, "We still have two rounds left; like hell we're letting these bastards take our Emergency Food Supply." He looks at me, "Ready, partner?"

I nod and clench my fist, "Pika pika!" I leap off Sanji's shoulder and walk between them towards the field nearby. We can't afford another loss; we have to win this for Chopper!

"What was that?!"

"You heard me?!"

I flinch as Zoro and Sanji glare at each other and my ears wilt; maybe this will be harder than I thought...

* * *

We arrive at the field and the announcer starts up again, explaining the basic rules. "There are two teams and two goals; the first team to get the ball into the opposing goal wins!" Okay, simple enough. "However, there's a catch!" The announcer goes on. "The balls aren't actually balls! They're people!" Wait, what? "Each team must select one of their players to be the ball, so make your selection!"

"Alright, you heard him!" A Foxy pirate calls out to us. "Which one of you guys is the ball?"

Zoro instantly points to Sanji and another Foxy pirate places a stupid looking Ball-hat with a single leather strap on Sanji's head.

"Who said you get to pick?!" Sanji demands.

The rest of the Foxy pirates start to cheer as our opponents enter the field. The first is Hamburg, second is a very tall monkey creature named Pickles, and the last is...oh my ever-loving Arceus… A half-giant half fishman named Pan...and he's wearing the Ball-hat! Oh man...I think even this could give us a run for our money.

"Disappointed?" Sanji asks.

"Not at all." Zoro says, cracking his neck.

"Now our mighty Groggy Ring combatants have taken the field; now let's see their opponents!" The announcer says, flying overhead on a giant bird. "First up, their meddlesome sideline supporter from the first round, the savage chef: Sanji!"

Sanji scoffs, "I think you mean stylish chef." Really? That's what you take issue with?

"Next up, the itty bitty pet of the Straw Hats: Pika-chan!" A vein pops on my head; who are you calling itty bitty?!

"And finally, with a bounty of 60 million berries, Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro!"

"Hardly worth our time to squash a few pipsqueaks like them!" Pickles remarks. Oh, you are gonna eat those words! The referee steps onto the field and flips a coin.

"Tails." Hamburg says.

"And you?" The referee asks us.

"Uh...kinda has to be heads." Sanji answers.

The referee lifts his hand, "Tails," He looks at Hamburg, "Field or Ball?"

"Ball, please." Hamburg says.

"The Groggy Monsters have chosen the Ball!" The announcer yells. "The Straw Hat's Ballman must now enter the other team's mid-circle!"

"Left or Right?" The referee asks us.

"Doesn't matter." Zoro says plainly. We end up with the left goal. Alright, I guess now we can get started.

"Hey Ballman! Get in position!" Zoro says sharply.

"I never agreed to be the ball in the first place, Mosshead!" Sanji growls back. "How am I supposed to look cool with this thing on my head?"

"You're gonna cry over a hat?" Zoro scoffs before glancing at him. "Hey! That actually looks good on you!"

"You think I'm gonna fall for that?!" Sanji snaps and the bickering begins.

I sit down on the grass with a sigh; no point but to just wait it out. I keep looking between them as the bickering thankfully doesn't escalate to physical violence, but we're still at a standstill, mostly because Sanji really doesn't want to be the ball. If this keeps up at this pace we're gonna be here forever! C'mon, can't you just suck it up and work together for ten seconds?!

I groan as I watch them start playing Rock-Paper-Scissors to see who will be the ball.

"I saw that, cheater! You went too early!" Sanji snaps as he loses the hand again.

"Shut up! You're just mad 'cause you lost!" Zoro retorts. "Like you always do." he adds. Really, Zoro? You're doing this now?

"I always lose huh?" Sanji repeats. "We'll see about that! Let's do best three out of five!"

I groan again in annoyance.

"You'll just lose again." Zoro mutters.

"Hurry up already!" Pickles urges. Yeah, c'mon already!

"Just suck it up and be the ball!" Zoro says. "Besides, it suits you; you look like the prince from the Kingdom of Lame-asses."

And the physical portion of the fight begins.

A vein finally pops on my head. Ugh! I've had enough of this! I leap up, snatch the ball hat off Sanji and place it on my own head. I tie off the strap and face Sanji and Zoro. If these guys won't be mature about this, then I will! "Pika pika!"

"You want to do it?" Zoro asks.

I nod firmly, my scowl conveying my annoyance at their fighting and sending a small shock their way for good measure. _'This is the only way to get the game moving since you two won't stop acting like babies!'_

We make our way towards the field, Sanji and Zoro throwing insults back and forth all the while. I bite my tongue to keep my lightning down; just grin and bear it Pika-chan, you don't want to roast them before a game with these giants.

"Hey! No weapons on the field!" The referee calls to Zoro.

"Those the rules?" Zoro asks.

"Yep! This is a ball game! No weapons allowed!" The announcer chimes in.

Oh great, guess that means my moves are limited; at least Iron Tail and Brick Break probably are. My lightning might be okay but, I don't want to risk it, which leaves me pretty much powerless. I'll probably be fine; I'm small and fast without my lightning or tail and these Groggy guys are huge and slow so I should be able to defend myself just fine with speed alone.

Zoro gives his swords to the referee with a shrug, "Whatever; my fists are all I need."

"You sure?" Sanji asks. "A swordsman without his swords is just…"

"What?" Zoro challenges.

"A normal guy...but lamer." Sanji responds.

I facepalm as the physical fighting resumes; are these guys _trying_ to find a reason to claw at each other's throats?

"That wasn't even a good burn! Get over it!" Thank you, Usopp, Wielder of Common Sense!

Thankfully, Sanji and Zoro stop and I make my way to the opponents circle. I lightly swallow as I gaze up at the giants, towering over me; I'm starting to regret this decision…

"Alright, let's go over the rules!" The announcer yells. "There's no time limit and the first team to score wins!"

Oh okay, so we just have to get the big guy's head into the goal. With Zoro and Sanji's strength together, that shouldn't be too hard. And all I have to do is keep the others from getting a hold of me to score.

As long as I keep moving and keep my instincts up, I should be fine. As long as my two teammates don't screw me over.

"Hope you get trampled out there, cook."

"Up yours, mosshead."

I am going to kill them one day...

* * *

 **Alright, time for a super brutal ball game next! Get ready Pika-chan!**


	81. Groggy Ring

**Somehow managed to get this done. I almost debated putting it off for a week since the election has got me so stressed out...ugh.**

 **Anyway, let's forget about the dark times our world now faces and read some One Piece! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **"LET THE GAMES BEGIN!"** The announcer yells as the referee blows his whistle. I drop onto all fours in a prepared stance.

 **"We start with the Straw Hat's ball Pika-chan deep in enemy territory! Will it retreat or attack?"**

"Let's do this!" Pickles yells and begins to charge towards me at top speed. I wait for the right moment and easily leap over him, letting him fly past me; easy dodge.

Because I dodged him, Pickles doesn't stop and heads straight for Sanji, but that's nothing to him. "Outta my way!" He jumps onto Pickle's shoulder and leaps into the air towards Pan; going for the big one already?

"Hope your head fits in the goal!" Sanji raises his leg to kick and Pan raises his arm, making Sanji land on it. But the minute Sanji's foot makes contact, he begins to slide across his arm. "H-Hey what's going on here?!" Sanji exclaims as he starts running in place on Pan's arm.

 **"Sanji is slipping and sliding on Big Pan's arm, but that's no surprise considering that his species has slippery skin!"** The announcer calls. Arceus dammit; at least he's not the ball.

"What the hell are you doing, you moron?!" Zoro yells. "Get down from there!"

"Careful what you wish for, Mosshead!" Sanji retorts. A split second later, Pan hits Sanji off his arm and onto the ground with his giant palm.

"I'm gonna getcha!" My ears twitch as I spy Hamburg behind me. I've been running while I've been watching so I guess now's the time to use my speed. I easily keep my distance from both him and Pickles, but I can only run for so long. I could use a little help! I look over and to my horror, Zoro and Sanji are fighting again!

"Pika pi! Pikachu!" _'Hey guys, a little help would be nice!'_ I yell.

They stop fighting and look at me when Pan lets out a loud grunt. He leaps into the air and lands with a loud thump, making a huge shockwave. I squeak as I'm thrown into the air, my small size making me soar much higher than Zoro or Sanji. Pickles dodges it, but Hamburg use the shockwave to his advantage, using the momentum to fly towards me.

I make my tail iron and easily swat him away. "Pika!" _'Back off!'_

Hamburg begins to fall while Sanji and Zoro run alongside Pickles under me as my attack sent me further into the air. "If that stupid rodent gets anywhere near the goal, I'm gonna slice it up!" Zoro yells.

"You shut your mouth, Mosshead; when this is over I'm gonna kick your ass into next week!" Sanji yells. Guys! Now is not the time!

My eyes widen as Pickles suddenly knocks both Sanji and Zoro aside and starts running towards the goal. I look behind me just in time to see Pan give Hamburg another boost into the air. I suddenly feel a large hand grab my scruff and I look to see a grinning Hamburg. "Gotcha!"

Oh shit…

Hamburg begins to soar towards the goal and moves to hold me with both hands. I see Zoro and Sanji run to try and intercept, but Pickles is right there to stop them with some kind of spinning move. I squeak as Hamburg suddenly begins to fold me in his grasp.

Wait an Arceus-damned minute...is he trying to make into an actual ball?! Oh hell no! Now you're dead!

I waste no time releasing an electric attack and Hamburg lets go of me, dazed from the surprise attack. I leap off him as he begins to fall towards Sanji, who gives him a hard kick. Meanwhile, Zoro manages to toss Pickles by the leg in the same direction, making the two crash right into each other and land outside the field in a heap.

 **"No goal!"**

I land and let out a sigh of relief; that was close! The Foxy pirates all gape in shock while the rest of the Straw Hats cheer loudly.

 **"It looks like the Groggy Monsters have finally found some worthy adversaries!"** The announcer yells. **"The Straw Hats prevail, but can they do it again?"**

I hope so...but not if my teammates keep bickering like this.

"You're cramping my style; go back to the sidelines Mosshead!"

"Is it your style to get pounded like a punching bag?!"

I sigh and drag a paw down my face; why does life have to be so difficult? Wait...isn't the game still going? I didn't hear a whistle so-

 _Thump! Thump! Thump!_

I look up in alarm to see Pan coming right towards us.

"Listen you good for nothing playboy cook! You better get those fancy eyebrows out of my way in a hurry!"

Uh, guys?

"No, you listen, you dumb oaf! If you don't get your lazy ass off the field right now I'm gonna fry it up!"

Guys, we may have a problem here!

 **"What's this? It seems that Team Straw Hat is having a disagreement with each other!"**

Would that announcer just shut up?! Ugh! That's it! I point at both Zoro and Sanji and gave them a good lightning bullet. "Pika pika! Pi pikachu! Chu pi pika!" I yell, pointing at Pan. _'C'mon guys, this is our chance! Quit fighting for once and let's hurry up and win this thing!'_

"Listen to Pika-chan, you idiots!" Usopp yells. "Their Ballman's all alone! Gang up on him and win this thing!"

That seems to get Zoro and Sanji to cool their jets, just in time to avoid Pan's massive foot. I squeak as I barely land, as the shaking from that stomp nearly throws me off balance. Pan roars and lifts his foot again, giant knives coming out of the soles of his shoes.

Oh Arceus, run for your lives! The three of us bolt across the field, Pan right on our heels.

"Don't run! How are you supposed to score?!" Usopp yells.

Zoro glares at him, "I'm doing my best but the guy's got knives on his shoes! If we don't run he's gonna make mulch out of us!" You can say that again! We'll have more holes than Swiss cheese!

"Hey ref! I thought you said we weren't allowed to use weapons!" Sanji yells.

To our horror, the referee looks to the side and starts casually whistling. You've got to be kidding me! I think Sanji goes over with a few choice words for the ref but I'm too focused on running with Zoro!

Zoro and I look behind us just in time to see Pan pull out a giant axe! Oh c'mon! Cut us some slack would ya?!

Meanwhile, Sanji gets a yellow card for his trouble but thanks to some words of encouragement from Nami, he's right back along with us. As in, running for dear life. The axe is gone but the knife boots are still there.

"Running around like this is getting us nowhere!" Sanji exclaims. Oh really, what gave you that idea?!

"Yeah, but now that we know their game plan we can counter attack!" Zoro agrees.

"Pika-chan, you keep running and keep those guys from getting you, we'll take care of this bastard!" Sanji says.

I nod and keep running as Zoro and Sanji skid to a halt and both run right towards Pan. I really hope they have a plan… I look back just as Pan throws himself to the ground. I squeak and leap to the side, barely missing his giant hands while Zoro and Sanji are forced to jump over him. But because the guy is so big, they're caught on his slimy skin again!

Well, as long as they slide off they should be safe-what the heck?!

Pan grabs his ankles, making his body into a giant slippery circle. Zoro and Sanji are nothing but blurs of green and yellow as they're caught in the endless loop. I grimace at the sight; this really doesn't look good!

I jump as I hear heavy footsteps behind me. Oh no...don't tell me-! I turn around to see Hamburg and Pickles, standing up.

 **"It looks like Hamburg and Pickles have finally recovered from their earlier accident, along with a new wardrobe!"** The announcer yells. **"Hamburg is sporting a pair of iron knuckles and elbow guards! Where did those come from? And Pickles has donned spiked shoulder protectors; that clearly violates the no weapons rule!"**

The announcer pauses. "But by complete coincidence, the referee has started doing stretches! Well, you can't expect him to catch everything!"

I feel the color drain from my face as Hamburg and Pickles begin to approach me. Words cannot describe how screwed I am!

"Time for revenge!" Pickles says gleefully, both of them eyeing me.

"PIKA-CHAN! GET OUT OF THERE!" Usopp and Nami scream. You don't need to tell me twice!

I back up a few steps in fear before turning tail and running. However, I don't get very far as I feel Pickles kick me into the air followed by Hamburg punching me in the middle with his knuckles; so that's what getting hit with iron feels like.

I tumble across the grass, coughing and gasping for air, waiting for more inevitable pain but I look up to see them completely ignoring me and running towards Pan. Pan finally breaks the circle, making a dizzy Sanji and Zoro go flying towards them. What are they doing? They need _me_ to score!

 **"Well this is a surprise! Instead of going for the Straw Hat's ball they decide to go for Sanji and Zoro! Perhaps this is payback for earlier?"**

My ears perk up; you've got to be kidding me! They just want the sole pleasure of beating us into the ground before scoring?! No wonder they put on those weapons!

Pickles starts spinning and Hamburg jumps off him, flying towards Zoro. With a hard swing, Hamburg sends Zoro to the ground with a huge crash thanks to those knuckles.

I get to my feet, ignoring the throb from that last punch, as Hamburg gets into a position, his knuckles and elbow guards facing Zoro on the ground. I put the pieces together as Pan leaps up, his hand raised to give Hamburg a speed boost.

Crap! He's gonna make putty out of Zoro! Sanji's still in the air! I've got to help!

I start running but Pan slams Hamburg down towards Zoro, increasing his speed like a rocket. I won't make it! I'm not fast enough! No! If I let them hit him it's over! I've got to go faster!

I grit my teeth and focus all of my energy into running; c'mon faster! Faster! Faster!

I feel my speed increase dramatically, more than I've ever felt. And there's no white energy around me! I'm just increasing my speed and nothing more! I zoom over to Zoro and at this point I'm running so fast it almost feels like I can't even be seen!

With Hamburg barely above us, I slam into Zoro with all my strength. We both fly out of the way of the knuckles just in the nick of time as they slam into the ground with a huge boom. Zoro and I roll across the ground, Zoro ending up on his back and me on his chest, but at least he isn't crushed by those knuckles.

 **"I don't believe it!"** The announcer yells. **"Pika-chan, the little ball mouse, just pushed Zoro out of the way with an incredible burst of speed! I've never seen anything that fast before!"**

I get off of Zoro as he sits up, "That was too close…" he mutters. Yeah, you can say that again.

 **"What's this? It looks like Team Foxy is turning their attention to Sanji of Team Straw Hat!"**

I perk up and turn to see Sanji dizzily getting to his feet. Pickles leaps into the air towards Pan who takes a deep breath. Pickles lands in his mouth and Pan blows him towards Sanji like a bullet. No!

I leap into action and feel my speed pick up again like before as I barely catch up with Pickles. I run around to Sanji's side as fast as I possibly can and leap towards him when Pickles' spike armor is mere inches from Sanji.

"Sanji! Move!" Luffy yells. You heard the Captain! Move!

I push Sanji out of the way, sending him and myself to the ground. Forget earlier, _that_ was way too close! Sanji and I tumble to the ground, me ending up a good ways away from Sanji.

I shake myself off and get to my feet, seeing Sanji slowly start to get up. "Pika!" _'Sanji!'_ I start to run towards him, when something crushes my tail.

I yelp and fall to the ground, turning to see a displeased Hamburg towering over me. "No more running for the mouse." He says. He reaches down with a massive hand and plucks me off the ground. I squirm in his grasp.

"Pikaaaaa!" I growl, sparks flying from my cheeks. _'You want another dose of lightning, asshole?!'_

Hamburg doesn't react, his eyes moving to look at Pickles and Pan; I'm done with this! I begin to charge up, but right before I can release, Hamburg tosses me into the air.

I manage to redirect a bit of my lightning back towards him, but Pickles is there in an instant! He blocks my lightning with his armor and begins to use that spinning move again. Hamburg jumps on top of Pickles and jumps towards me, punching me right in the chin. I'm sent flying straight upwards into the sky, somersaulting at top speed.

 **"Hamburg hits Pika-chan dead on with a nasty punch!"**

My spinning finally dies down as I begin to fall, failing to notice that Pickles is still spinning directly under me.

 **"Uh-oh! Pika-chan's falling right into the Groggy Monsters' signature move! Where are that poor thing's teammates?!"**

"Hang on, partner!" Sanji yells.

"Dammit!" Zoro curses.

They both get to their feet, but Hamburg's ready for them. He gives Sanji a hard punch to the stomach which sends him flying right into Zoro at top speed; they were so focused on me, they couldn't fight back!

I look down as Pickles is mere feet away from me. Oh man, this is gonna hurt! I brace myself as the spikes slam into me full force, throwing me into the air.

"Pika-chan!" Sanji yells.

I don't even have time to breathe before Hamburg jumps up and punches me with his iron knuckles. I barely hear the announcer comment.

 **"Hamburg sends Pika-chan flying back! They don't even care about scoring anymore! Despite having the Straw Hat's ball completely at their mercy, the Groggy Monsters are only focusing on giving Pika-chan a bad time for spoiling their fun earlier!"**

I finally yelp as I feel Pickles' spike armor hit me again, sending me straight into the air along with a decent amount of blood. A shadow appears over me and I see Pan's giant hand. Any breath I have to scream is lost as his palm slams into me, sending me to the ground with a huge crash.

 **"The Groggy Monsters stomp the Straw Hat's ball flat with an incredible three-man team attack!"** The announcer yells.

"NO! PIKA-CHAN!" I hear Luffy and Usopp scream along with a screech of terror from Chopper. The smoke clears and I lie in a bloody mess on the field. I have cuts and bruises all over me and I can't even move. All I can do is shiver, but even that hurts me.

A cloud covers the sun, creating a cool patch of shade over me and I feel a cool wind blow. I hear giant footsteps before a large meaty hand grabs my tail and lifts me up. I'm honestly in too much pain to even react; I can't even tell which Groggy monster is holding me.

"I have a little request!" I hear Foxy say. "One Monster Burger please!" Huh? What the heck does that mean?

Through my foggy hearing I can something involving pounding, slicing and slamming, and I hear a lot of metal that can only be from weapons. It sounds like metal bats, swords, and something else. I can also hear worried shouts from my fellow crewmates on the sidelines; what's happening?

I barely open my eyes when two blurs of green and yellow enter my vision and I drop back to the grass with a soft thump. I feel two sets of footsteps approach me, but I know it's not the Groggy monsters. These footsteps are slow and gentle. The footsteps stop and two figures lean over me.

I feel a rough hand on my back, gently brushing over my injuries. Zoro.

Two arms that I know so well gently lift me off the ground, mindful of my injuries. Sanji.

Despite his gentleness, I still flinch in pain; those spikes really got me. The iron wasn't as bad as they were. Even though my eyes aren't open I can feel a giant wave of emotion coming from both of them. I can feel anger and rage with a tiny bit of guilt in the mix, but I can't tell who it's from.

"Alright…" Zoro says, softly and dangerously. "Let's work together for ten seconds."

"Fine, but no longer." Sanji responds.

I feel the sun reappear as it kisses my fur and I finally manage to open one eye fully. "Pika...pi…" _'Sorry...guys…'_ I choke out, giving a pained but genuine smile.

"Don't move." Zoro says. "You don't want to make your injuries worse."

"You've done enough; just rest up and let us handle this." Sanji says.

They glare at the Groggy monsters, their eyes nearly glowing with rage and fighting spirit. Arceus help those poor monsters. Now that I can see properly, I can see that I was right about Hamburg and Pickles have weapons. Pan is holding two giant metal plates, probably for squishing things.

Sanji gently sits me down next to our goal ring outside the line and lights a cigarette. "Alright if you want a cooking battle I'll give you one." Sanji says. "But I'll warn you, I've never cooked scumbags before."

Hamburg charges towards Sanji, waving his metal bats, but Sanji easily takes him out with a relentless barrage of kicks. He ends it by kicking Hamburg into the air and right into Pan's plates just in time to be crushed flatter than paper. Pickles then tries to run in with a spinning sword attack, but Zoro quickly steps in and stops him, throwing him right up at Pan.

Pan roars in pain as Pickles' swords slash his chest until he finally stops spinning. Pan is about to fall backwards, but Sanji kicks him right back up again with his Kick Course. With Pan stable but dazed on his feet, Zoro starts to charge towards him. Pickles tries to stop him, but Sanji simply kicks him out of the way and right into the ref; good move.

Luckily, the ref passes out before he can call Sanji out on it, and Sanji launches Zoro into the air with a well-aimed kick. Zoro soars up and grabs Pan by the top of his mouth, taking him into the air and slamming him into the goal.

"GOAL!" The announcer yells.

"Woo-hoo! Yeah!" Nami cheers.

"We won!" Luffy yells.

"They won!" Chopper wails, tears pouring down his face. "Zoro, Sanji, Pika-chan, thank you!"

I smile in relief and hold up my left paw in a fist of victory. I knew they could do it. Even a few of the Foxy pirates are cheering for us.

Sanji comes over and picks me up, mindful of my injured body. He takes the ball hat off my head, drops it, and we make our way back to the others. "How are you feeling?" he asks.

I give a weak smile and give a thumbs up; it'll take a lot more than this to keep me down.

Sanji grins and gently scratches my ears, "You did a damn good job; you saved our skins out there."

"Pika." I say, rubbing the back of my head. What can I say, _someone_ has to keep an eye on you morons.

"Let me through! Let me through!" We all look up to see Chopper running towards us, the Foxy mask still on his face. "Sanji, put Pika-chan down!" He orders. Sanji blinks and complies, sitting me on the grass.

Chopper immediately begins checking me over, his medical bag appearing out of nowhere. "Where does it hurt the most, Pika-chan? Oh geez, you're bleeding and bruised all over the place! You were hit pretty hard, I hope you don't have a concussion!" Uh Chopper, as touching as it is to see you worried about me, aren't you-

"Hey, what are you doing?!" One of the Foxy pirates demands. "Straw Hat didn't choose you to come back to his crew; get back over here!"

"Yeah, you're breaking the rules!"

"Get back to the stage!"

Chopper grits his teeth and shakes with rage. "SHUT UP!" He yells, making everyone freeze.

"I know the rules, you don't have to remind me!" Chopper yells. "I know they didn't take me back yet; I still have this mask on, so I'm still part of your crew!" He glares dangerously. "I may be a pirate, but I'm a doctor first! And as a doctor, it's my job to treat anyone and anything that's hurt! So shut up and let me do my job!"

The Foxy pirates are stunned into silence, and we are too. "Pika…" _'Chopper…'_

Chopper smiles and turns back to me, "Okay, now hold still." He says, pulling out some antibiotics, "We don't want any of those cuts to get infected." I slowly smile back and let Chopper treat me; that's the doctor we know and love.

Meanwhile in the back, all the Foxy pirates are reduced to tears. "So noble; it's so beautiful!"

"That's one big hearted reindeer!"

"He's so kind that he's helping the enemy; he's the best doctor in the world!"

The rest of the Foxy pirates cheer loudly, while the other doctor's on the crew are inspired to go and help the Groggy Monsters recover. Maybe these Foxy pirates aren't all that bad.

As Chopper patches me up, I can't help but let one thought cross my mind: I sure am glad I'm not participating in Round 3.

* * *

 **Congratulations! You're Pika-chan remembered Agility!**

 **Man, when I beat up Pika-chan, I go all out...**

 **Also, the official name I've come up with for Pika-chan's little finger lightning bolts it got from Eneru is 'Lightning Bullet'. Kinda fits, don'tcha think X3**


	82. DeadBall

**Hey guys, I'm alive! Sorry for the long wait, but I honestly just needed a break from this story. First the election happened, then it was Thanksgiving and then finals happened, so I just needed to rest my muse for a bit. But I'm back now and I'm planning to get ahead over the holidays so I can get back to weekly stuff. I think I now know how Oda feels, having to post new content every week; it's a struggle, and he has to DRAW the chapters!**

 **Also, I probably should've mentioned this a long time ago, but...I have a tumblr pika-ace. Currently it's being taken over by 'In the Heights' (if you're a broadway fan, DEFINITELY check it out) but I still occasionally post about One Piece, so if you want to ask me questions or talk about OP with me, give my tumblr a visit!**

 **Now, I've kept you waiting long enough! Let's go!**

* * *

Despite the recovery process being very sentimental and full of camaraderie, it wasn't long before we went back to crazy town. Shouldn't be surprised with this crowd. After everyone got patched up, including me getting just about mummified in bandages (now I know how Zoro feels), we got to the next part of the games where Luffy chooses which Foxy pirate to take.

Before we start, Nami's suggests that we take Foxy so we rid the Foxy pirates of their biggest trump card. Of course, the Foxy Pirates overhear and don't take it too well, calling us cowards for resorting to such a low strategy. Plus, Robin points out that if we did that, and won the next round, that would mean that Foxy would be stuck with us as a part of our crew, and there was no way in hell that was happening.

Luckily, it looks like Luffy's already made his decision. The drumroll starts and Luffy steps forward, his eyes on the stage. "Well, the choice is obvious, isn't it?" He says. I'll say it is! "There's someone I wanna take back." Everyone leans forward in anticipation.

"SHELLY!"

...What.

Everyone's eyes are drawn to the side of the stage where Shelly is tied to a post, Tonjit by her side. Everyone's jaw drops and poor Chopper looks like his whole world just ended. I tilt my head in confusion as Usopp and Nami berate Luffy and stretch his face all about, as Tonjit walks over to us, leading Shelly behind him.

Luffy breaks free and smiles, "There you go, Stilts Guy; now you have your horse back once and for all!" Oh, I get it now! I forgot that Foxy pretty much claimed Shelly when he shot that net at her.

"How can I ever thank you?" Tonjit asks.

"Seeing you together is thanks enough." Luffy says. That was so damn cheesy, but...Mesprit bless you Luffy, you are so sweet sometimes!

"This means so much," Tonjit says, tears in his eyes. "Really, thank you."

"Don't sweat it." Luffy says.

"But what about your little reindeer friend?" Tonjit asks.

"Yeah, you jerk!" Nami agrees. "How do you think Chopper feels about this?" I make a face and glance over; poor Chopper's in tears. Little guy must be traumatized!

"Chopper!" Luffy clenches his fist, "I'm sorry, but just wait a little longer; I promise we'll win the next game and get you back." He says. "So hang on a little longer okay? I know you can take it! After all, you're a man!"

Chopper sniffs, wipes his tears, and sits back down, "You bet I am!" He replies.

Nami smiles, "That's our Chopper."

"Just leave it all to me!" Usopp says.

"If you're Chopper's last hope, he's screwed." Sanji snipes, making me chuckle slightly.

"I wonder what the next game is going to be?" Robin wonders, a hint of excitement in her voice.

Zoro shrugs, "Whatever it is, I'm ready for it."

Luffy laughs and grins, "We're gonna have Chopper back in no time!"

Alright then, let's get this show on the road!

* * *

I said it before and I'll say it again; I'm really glad I wasn't participating in Round 3. It sounded harmless enough on paper, a roller skating race. But of course, with these people, on this ocean, it was way more stressful and complicated than it needed to be. Luffy, Robin, Usopp, and Nami were the ones participating. Chopper was supposed to compete too, but since he's currently a Foxy Pirate, he can only watch while we make do without him.

When it started, it seemed like a pretty even match, since Nami and Usopp were pretty good at skating. But then we found out that Luffy had no idea how to skate. Yeah, the kid can take down warlords and eat the equivalent of a sea serpent...and he can't skate. It's the little things that can really pack a punch.

Well, luckily, thanks to a little coaching from Zoro, Luffy eventually got the hang of it and was able to skate well enough to be a threat. But we still had to deal with more cheating, like the Slow Slow Beam, and some weird hypnotizing gizmo that Porche had.

But we managed to pull out a victory in the end and get Chopper back, so honestly, it all worked out in the end. And it was pretty entertaining to watch. And with that, our Davy Back fight is finally over, thank Arceus!

"And with that, since neither crew gained any new crewmembers, this Davy Back fight ends in a draw!" The announcer shouts.

"NOT SO FAST!" We all freeze and turn as Foxy walks towards us. "Any Captain worth his weight in seaweed knows that there's no such thing as a draw! It's plunder or be plundered!" Oh come on! Is your fetish for furry cute things keeping you from letting this go?

"Is he saying what I think he is?" Usopp asks fearfully. "How about another three round match to see who's really the best?" Foxy asks, holding up three coins again.

"Like we'd ever agree to that!" Usopp says.

Nami nods, "After all that cheating, you'd have to be an idiot to agree to another round!"

My ears droop; did you guys forget who our captain is? Sure enough, Luffy grabs a rifle and fires it into the air with a huge grin on his face. "You're on, Splithead!" What in Arceus' name did we do to deserve this?

Usopp and Nami lay a good beatdown onto him, and hold Luffy up, bruised and battered, "Okay, this is the last one, I promise…" He says weakly. "I won't do it again, I promise."

"I don't know if I have any tears left to cry!" Chopper protests. Well, maybe you should try not crying so much, buddy.

"No point in backing out now." Zoro shrugs.

"I doubt he would've agreed if he didn't have something in mind." Robin points out.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Sanji says. "Unless he plans on nailing us a shipwright from Foxy's crew." My ears perk up; that would be very nice if we could pull that off. Then we could probably get the Merry repaired right here and now! If these games manage to go our way this time…

* * *

The next day, we set up for the next round, with three brand new games planned out. First is a Dodgeball showdown, and since we're keeping the same roster as last time, that means we're all playing. At least it's just dodgeball. We listen as the announcer tells us the basic rules, which aren't too different from normal dodgeball, even though they call it Hit and DeadBall.

Our crew is to be divided into on-court and off-court teams; both teams can throw the ball around but the off-court team can't enter the court at all. Simple enough. "There are a couple other miscellaneous rules, so be sure the read up on the rules!" The announcer finishes, tossing us a giant book.

Robin easily catches it, "I didn't expect it to be so thick."

"What's the point of giving us the rules if you're just gonna cheat anyway?" Nami snipes. "Did you give it to us just so we can see how badly you're cheating?"

"Ah ah ah," The announcer waves his finger, "Read the first page, young lady."

Robin opens the book and does so. "Referee Regulations," she reads, "He who makes a judgement contrary to the rules written here, shall be beheaded on the spot." Wait, seriously?!

"And there you have it." The announcer says. "On that topic, this game will be overseen by five referees, one of them a veteran with fifty years of experience!"

"Huh; with any luck we may actually get a fair fight." Zoro says. That would be very nice, after all the shit we've had to go through. We choose for Nami and Robin to be our off-court members while the rest of us stay on the court. The referee places two balls in the middle of the field and calls for two members to come forward.

Foxy's team sends two Fishmen and we send up Luffy and Chopper, the latter putting a Rumble Ball in his mouth and morphing into Jump Point. The whistle blows and the ref throws the balls into the air. The Fishmen try to attack Luffy and Chopper, but the two quickly spring up and catch the balls.

"Nice catch!" Usopp says. "Now give 'em a good spike to the face!"

"Aim for Split-head!" Luffy yells.

"Right!" Chopper nods, morphing into his Arm Point. They shoot the balls towards Foxy like bullets and they slam right into his face. Nice!

"Captain Foxy is safe!" The old ref yells.

"What do you mean safe?!" Usopp demands. "That was a clean hit!"

"It's a violation of Article 24!" The ref says. "Hits to the face don't count!" Oh great; guess having rules is a double-edged sword after all.

Luckily, the balls roll off Foxy's face and off the court so Nami picks them up, "Get them while they're distracted!" She calls, throwing the balls to Zoro and Sanji.

"Yeah, I'll show them the power of our sweet love!" Sanji coos. I roll my eyes; just throw the damn thing, or kick, whatever works.

They both throw their balls, or rather, Sanji kicks his, and they both send two large groups of Foxy Pirates flying. "18 members of Team Foxy are eliminated for being thrown out of bounds!" A ref yells. Alright, we still have a chance!

The weird leopard thing tries to get the balls, since they're now on Foxy's side, but two hands pop out of the ground and toss them to us. "Pardon me." Robin says before going back to the rule book in her lap. Honestly, being able to read during a game is probably the best scenario for her. Luffy and Chopper get the balls and take their shots, Chopper staying in Arm Point since his three minutes haven't expired yet.

"Gum Gum…" Luffy plants his feet in the ground, "Slingshot!" The ball hurls over the field and knocks out ten more Foxy pirates.

"Go get 'em, Chopper!" Usopp cheers. Chopper nods and steps up. He hurls the ball as hard as he can and it slams into a another group ten, sending them straight into Hamburg. Hamburg catches them and digs his feet into the ground as the force of the throw sends him back. However, Hamburg is able to stop just before they cross the out of bounds line, saving himself and the others from being out. Crap, now they have both balls!

Our eyes widen as Foxy orders Hamburg to give the balls to Big Pan; oh great. Usopp jumps and hides behind Luffy and Chopper as Pan rears back and hurls the balls towards us. Luckily, they're too high so they fly right over me. Sanji and Zoro simply move out of the way, and Luffy stretches his head and Chopper shrinks back to Brain Point. But Usopp...oh crap!

I quickly sweep my tail under Usopp, sending him onto his back, the ball flying right over us. There's a loud crash, and a whole bunch of Foxy pirates fly out of bounds. The ref blows his whistle, "Out of bounds; twenty two members of the Foxy pirates are out!"

Usopp sighs in relief and sits up, "Thanks buddy." He says to me, giving me a pat.

"Pika!" I chirp.

Nami grabs the ball and tosses it back to us. Maybe if we're lucky, the Foxy pirates will just eliminate each other with their own stupidity. Now Foxy and Hamburg are the only on-court members left; if we can take them out, we win!

The two begin muttering to each other, probably to think up a plan. Foxy can't use his Slow Slow Beam because last time Robin just used her extra hands to point Foxy's beam in another direction. Speaking of extra hands, one appears on Hamburg's shoulder before another drops the ball on top of his head.

Luffy laughs and gives a thumbs up, "Nice one, Robin!"

"Hamburg is safe!" A ref yells.

"Are you sure?" Robin asks. "The face may not count, but Article 54 states that the top of the head is fair game." Alright, give it up for the bookworm!

"If I were you I'd start using your head before someone chops it off! Hamburg is out!" The older ref scolds the younger one.

"You really read all that? That's awesome!" Nami exclaims.

"Thanks for the compliment, but I'm only halfway through." Robin responds. Well, just keep doing what you're doing and we'll win this thing in no time.

"Alright, let's finish him off, quick!" Nami says, tossing the ball to Sanji.

"You got it." He says, and gets ready.

"Hey Sanji~!" A bunch of Foxy girls croon.

"Yes ladies?" Sanji exclaims, heart eyes on. Oh no…

"Please don't hit our boss." They say seductively. "Just give that ball to us!"

"Of course!" Sanji says and makes to toss the ball over. Oh no! Nope nope nope! That's a big bag of nope right there! Just as he's about to hand it over, I run over and give him a moderate but still pretty painful shock with an electric bullet.

Sanji falls to his knees and I take the ball, tossing it to Zoro. Zoro gives me a grin, obviously mostly happy to see Sanji in pain while Chopper and Usopp deflate with relief.

"That was too close…" Usopp breathes. I glare at Sanji, folding my arms and tapping my foot as he laughs nervously. Be glad you didn't do anything else stupid, mister!

"Alright, now we just have to knock out their boss and we'll win." Nami says.

"We can't celebrate yet," Robin says. "You never know what will happen."

"Very true." Foxy says as something large begins to roll up from behind him.

"What the-?"

"Pika?" Our eyes widen as a giant tank like contraption stops behind Foxy, with a giant cannon attached.

"There it is!" The announcer yells. "The Hit and Deadball secret weapon has arrived!"

Foxy laughs and climbs into the machine. "Say hello to Mr. Accu-Cannon!" This can't be good.

"Hey ref, are you really gonna allow this?" Usopp demands.

"So that's Mr. Accu-Cannon?" Robin asks. Wait...don't tell me-

"I came across an article mentioning it, but I hadn't seen the contraption until now." Robin says.

The old ref nods, "Article 322; the only weapon allowed is Mr. Accu-Cannon."

"Why would you make a rule just for that stupid thing?" Usopp asks flatly.

"I don't know, seems pretty awesome to me!" Luffy says.

"Whatever; I don't care how big your Accu-whatever thing is, you're still gonna lose!" Zoro scoffs.

"We'll see about that!" Foxy responds. "Ready to finish them off Porche?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Porche responds gleefully, whipping out a familiar baton. Oh crap, it's that hypnosis thing again!

"Quick, close your eyes!" Nami yells. We all do so, but my ears twitch as I hear machine gears turning.

"Hey Sanji~!" Porche croons at the same time.

"Yes my dear?" Sanji asks, turning to face her. There are two loud booms and I open my eyes just in time to see two balls shoot towards us; she wasn't trying to hypnotize us, it was just a diversion! One hits Usopp, who's unable to dodge, and the other hits Sanji, who's too busy ogling Porche.

"Usopp and Sanji of Team Straw Hat are out!" Dammit, they really got us there!

"Like shooting fish in a barrel!" Foxy crows as a Foxy pirate tosses him the ball that hit Usopp (Luffy manages to snag the one that hit Sanji).

"Remember, don't blink!" Porche says, activating her baton again; dammit, knock it off!

"Can't you play without using dirty tricks for once?" Zoro grumbles. The cannon fires again, but this time towards Zoro. However, Zoro doesn't even flinch and his hand moves in a swift chopping motion.

A second later, the ball is spliced in half, the two halves flying around him. "Even without my swords, I'm still a swordsman." Damn, this guy just keeps getting more and more impressive!

"Zoro, of Team Straw Hat is out!" The old ref yells. What?!

"What did I do?!" Zoro demands.

"Rule #645; even with hands, there's no slicing of the ball." The ref answers. "And the rules also state that Foxy gets a new ball." Arceus damn these rules! Zoro grits his teeth and storms off the field.

"I don't think he's taking it too well…" Chopper says. Yeah, that was a pretty big blow to his pride. Now it's just up to Luffy, Chopper and I.

We tense as the cannon focuses on us. "Time to pick up where I left off." Foxy sneers.

"Yeah? Then let's see what you got!" Luffy responds.

Chopper pops another Rumble Ball into his mouth and morphs into Fur Point, "Bring it on!"

"Pika pika!" I say, sparks flying from my cheeks.

"Let's see you dodge this!" Foxy yells. The cannon fires the ball straight at Luffy, but Luffy backflips out of the way.

However, the ball flies back and hits one of the Foxy pirates, a big square guy who basically looks and acts like a wall with a face, and the ball ricochets back towards Luffy. Chopper and I gasp as Luffy doesn't notice and before I can blink, Chopper moves in front of the ball.

"Pika!" _'Chopper!'_ I cry as a big ball of fur flies across the field, his pink hat falling off.

"Choppy!" Porche exclaims worriedly.

Chopper's little face pokes out of his fur, bruised from the ball, "Hey, they said hits to the face don't count!" He calls. A smile grows on my face; nice thinking, Chopper!

"Uh...was that his face?" One of the ref's asks.

"Now that you mention it, with all that fluff it's hard to tell…" The announcer agrees.

"Hey, can't you see a pirate's honor is at stake here!" One of the Foxy pirates yells.

"He sacrificed himself to save his captain; can't you see that?" Another sobs.

The rest of the Foxy pirates begin to cheer, "It hit him in the face!"

"He's not out!"

"It hit him in the face, he's safe!"

The older ref nods, "A pirate's honor is at stake, so the answer is clear; the ball hit him in the face and shots to the face don't count!" Everyone cheers loudly.

"However…" Wait, huh? "While hits to the face don't count, you're still out of bounds so you are eliminated!" We all look down and to our horror, Chopper is just outside the line. Aw man! And after all that support…

"Hey, you okay?" Luffy asks, walking over to him. "Yeah." Chopper says, shedding his Fur Point and getting up, "But I still lost…"

Luffy plops Chopper's hat back onto his head. "Don't worry, just leave the rest to Pika-chan and me." He says. "And thanks; nice save."

"Pikachu." I agree with a nod.

Chopper giggles and rubs his head, "What makes you think complimenting me will make me happy?"

"Not too bad, Choppy!" Foxy calls out. "I can't wait until I win you back on my crew!"

Luffy and I take our place in the middle of the field. "You gotta go through us first Split-Head!"

"Pika!" Luffy has one ball and Foxy has the other; it's do or die!

"I warn you, this is going to hurt!" Foxy says. "I suggest that you and your little pet give up now!"

I growl, "Pika pika!" _'I'm not a pet!'_

"Why would we give up when you're the one who's gonna lose?" Luffy shoots back.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that; take a look around!" Foxy says. We both look and realize that all of Foxy's off-court members are holding balls! How is that fair?!

"Say your prayers!" Porche calls out. I can't help but feel a bit uneasy as they all laugh, holding the balls high above their heads; I don't like this…

"Hey, what's with all those balls?!" Sanji demands. "That's gotta be against the rules!"

"The rules clearly state that both teams can use as many fake balls as they like!" The ref says. Wait, fake? So as long as we don't get hit by the real ball, we'll be fine?

"Don't worry, you and Foxy are the only ones with real balls!" Nami yells. "Just focus on him!"

"How did she know?!" Foxy asks in shock. Dude, it's really not that hard to figure out.

Luffy grins, "Sorry pal; looks I have to break your Mr. Whatchamacalit thing!" Alright, get him, Luffy! Luffy stretches his arm back far and throws it...but the ball isn't there. What the heck?

"Better watch where you stretch that arm!" We both turn to see Porche holding our ball. She grins and all the Foxy pirates hide their balls behind their backs. Oh no…

"C'mon boys; let's shuffle!" Porche calls. The Foxy pirates all chant as they begin to pass the balls behind their backs. Now what do we do?! How do we know which ones to dodge?!

"Can you tell which one is the real one now?" Foxy taunts.

"Shut up!" Luffy snaps. "I'll just catch 'em all!"

I flinch as a chill runs down my spine; my pulse is speeding up and it's getting hard to breathe. Why am I so scared all of a sudden?

"Just accept your defeat with grace!" Foxy yells. "Now, time to let those balls fly!" The Foxy pirates all yell as they hurl the balls towards us.

My eyes widen as hundreds of dodgeballs fall towards me. I blink and the sky is red, but the round shadows of the balls are still there.

 _'No…'_ My heart begins to beat rapidly and my chest tightens. _'No...no…!'_

The balls are flying towards me from all directions. There's no way to escape.

They're gonna get me! I have to get away! I have to run! I don't want to go! I don't want to be taken!

Get away, now! Get away! Run! Run!

 _DON'T LET THEM GET ME!_ _**RUN!**_

The next few seconds are blurs of red and black before something slams into me. I tumble to the ground and register something holding me. "PIKA!" _'LET GO!'_ I scream, struggling with all my might.

Let me go! Don't take me away! I don't want to go! Leave me alone! Just leave me alone!

"PIKA-CHAN!" My eyes fly open (when did I close them?) and sunlight assaults my vision. The sky isn't red anymore…

I blink as my vision clears to see that I'm wrapped tightly in Luffy's arms, my back pressed to his chest. My captain is looking down at me in confusion and concern as we sit on the ground.

The others appear in my vision a few seconds later and I feel hooves grab my face. "Pika-chan, look at me!" I'm suddenly facing Chopper, who looks downright terrified.

"P-Pika-" _'Chopper, I-'_

I try to speak but am cut off as the doctor begins checking my temperature, heartbeat, and whatever the hell else he can check. "Can you hear me? Can you see straight? How's your breathing? You're not hyperventilating are you?"

I shake my head and firmly push Chopper's hooves away from my face, "Pika." _'I'm fine.'_

"You are _not_ fine!" Chopper snaps, making me flinch. I don't think he's ever taken that tone with me before. He sounds scared and angry at the same time. It's then that I realize that everyone looks pretty concerned; they're all staring at me as if I've grown another pair of ears.

"Pi...Pikachu?" _'W-What happened…?'_

Everyone understands my confusion so Chopper doesn't need to translate. "We...don't really know what happened." Chopper answers.

Sanji's hand appears on my head, "You just suddenly turned pale and started screaming when those balls came towards you." He says.

Luffy nods, "Then you started running out of nowhere so I stretched out and grabbed you." He finishes, saying it casually like it was the most common thing in the world.

"I told you to tell me if something like this happened again." Chopper says firmly. "What caused it this time?"

The answer is given when one of the dodgeballs rolls towards us and I flinch and back away when it nearly taps me. It takes me a second to realize that I'm shivering.

Usopp steps forward and picks up the ball, "Was it the balls that scared you?" He asks. I nod, still shivering, so much so that Sanji lifts me up and holds me comfortingly, stroking my back.

"Do you know why?" Chopper asks. I shake my head, directing my focus towards Sanji, whose touch is really helping right now.

"The mystery grows." Robin muses.

"I'm not sure what exactly happened there," The announcer's voice catches our attention. "But the First Round is over; Team Foxy are the winners!"

"What?!" We all exclaim.

"Both Pika-chan and Luffy ran out of bounds." The old ref says. "Therefore, they are both eliminated!" Oh no...what have I done?

"It's time for the winning Captain to claim his prize!" The announcer calls. "Which member will he choose?"

Foxy laughs gleefully, "The answer is obvious!"

"Of course it is!" Porche agrees happily. I glance nervously at Chopper; I just totally screwed him over, didn't I?

Foxy laughs again and points, "The one I choose, is you!" He announces. "The archaeologist, Nico Robin!"

* * *

 **Man, Pika-chan's PTSD is really running rampant; and we STILL don't know why! But we're getting more hints ;)**

 **Again, visit my tumblr pika-ace if you want to ask me questions about the story or whatever! :)**


	83. Race

**Another short one today but I gotta get ready for Christmas travels! X3**

* * *

It was safe to say that everyone was shocked at Foxy's choice, even Robin seemed pretty shocked. Porche definitely wasn't happy that Foxy picked her instead of Chopper, but I picked up why he did. For her powers. Now that he has her, she can't use her powers to stop his Slow Slow Beam, so next round they can take Chopper back.

"Robiiiiiin!" Luffy, Usopp and Chopper wail.

"How dare they take my sweet Robin away from me!" Sanji cries, also in tears. I bite my lip as my ears wilt from guilt; this is all my fault!

We all watch sadly as Robin walks over; but to our surprise, Robin takes the whole thing in stride. She walks right on over with a smile on her face, putting the Foxy mask on without any trouble. "How does it look?" She asks, sitting in the chair that's set up for her.

A bunch of Foxy Pirates gather around her with blushing cheeks. "Perfect!" One says.

"Yeah, it compliments your beautiful hair!" Another gushes. Wow, she's popular.

"She... seems to be getting along with them pretty well." Usopp says flatly.

"Figures," Zoro growls. "I never trusted that woman to begin with."

"What are you talking about?" Nami exclaims. "Robin obviously trusts us to get her back...I think."

"As always, Nami's right on the money." Sanji says with a nod. "I'm gonna whatever it takes in the next round to get her back."

I roll my eyes at the first part of that sentence, but I get my game face on at the second part. You can be damn sure that I'm gonna give this next round my all, too! I've got to redeem myself!

"Let's get this next round started!" Luffy cheers. "Let me at 'em!"

"Luffy, you can't compete in this round, you're in the third." Nami reminds him dryly.

Luffy blinks, "Oh, guess I'm on cheering duty then!" Yeah, you go do that Luffy.

Thankfully, the next round is a six on six competition and we were planning on having Robin sit out the next round anyway, so we're not short anybody. The next round, called 'A Twist on a Childhood Favorite', we soon find out is Red Light, Green Light. Luckily, the rules are the same, but we're allowed to use weapons and fight however we want.

Tonjit is brought in to be the stoplight, and is placed at the top of the race track, a really tall hill with a very winding path leading up to it. And it just so happens to start off split into two separate paths, ours just so happening to be way more twisty while the Foxy pirates have a straight path; convenient. We're up against Porche, Hamburg, the cheetah guy, one of the fishmen, Pickles and Big Pan; all familiar faces.

"Wait," Usopp says. "If the old guy's the stoplight, that should give us a huge advantage!"

"I wouldn't get ahead of ourselves." Sanji says. Yeah, I'm not expecting anything to go our way unless we force it to go our way. We start the race, by all calling out our first step, and thanks to Pan being so big, they get a good start by a few feet; unfair jackasses.

"Be careful guys," Nami warns. "This rocky path will make it easy for us to lose our balance when coming to a sudden stop." Alright, so we're gonna have to be nimble and quick; this sounds up my alley.

Tonjit covers his eyes, the announcer says go, and we take off. Sanji, Zoro, and I make it to the front of the group pretty quickly, but I end up in the lead since Sanji and Zoro are fighting again, literally running head to head.

"You're in my way!"

"No, you're in my way! Move it!"

"How can those two idiots run and argue at the same time?!" Usopp demands.

"Knock it off, you two!" Nami yells. Don't expect any miracles, Mom.

Usopp, Nami and Chopper stop to catch their breath and we keep running, not hindered at all. We make it to where the two paths meet and...wait a second. Tonjit hasn't called Red Light yet! I glance up and my ears pick up that he's just finished saying the word light of Green Light; how can he hold that word out for so long in one breath?!

I glance behind me to see that Sanji and Zoro have stopped to spar and Pickles and Big Pan are moving to clash with them. I turn my attention back to the path; that's their problem. I'm gonna get us ahead while I have the chance; I'm pretty much the fastest one we have!

Pickles and Hamburg toss a giant boulder towards Zoro and Sanji, when my ears twitch; Tonjit's just about finished saying Red Light! We all skid to a halt, but the boulder is still flying towards Sanji and Zoro. A split second later, the boulder is sliced in half and both halves are kicked towards Pickles and Big Pan.

Tonjit opens his eyes just in time to see them get knocked right into the water. "You're out." He says simply.

"An early upset for Team Foxy!" The announcer yells.

I deflate in relief as Luffy cheers loudly, "Alright Zoro and Sanji! Nice one!"

"Cheetah, Porche, and Hamburg are in front, and have quite a significant lead!" The announcer continues. "But Pika-chan of Team Straw Hat is right on their tails; can the cute little mouse catch up?"

"You can do it Pika-chan!" Luffy cheers. "Go get 'em!" I'll do my best!

Tonjit covers his eyes again and we take off. That announcer may have said I'm right on their tails, but I'm still super behind! There's gotta be a way to catch up! My mind briefly goes to that new speed ability I pulled off during the Groggy Ring, but I could only really move in a straight line while doing it! And on a path this narrow, I don't want to risk it; but maybe I can tap into it a little.

Sanji catches up with me a little (Zoro got lost somehow, don't ask why) and my eyes suddenly fall on a line of rocks sticking up out of the water. They cut across a huge chunk of the path!

"Pika!" I call to Sanji and I start leaping across them. Sanji stops and considers it before following me. Because I'm so small and light, they're no problem, but Sanji makes a few of them collapse after jumping from them. But we both land safely and find ourselves right behind Porche, Hamburg, and Cheetah! This is our chance!

"Hamburg, go faster!" Porche urges from atop Hamburg's back. I gotta admit, Tonjit's been going on for a while; he hasn't told us to stop again!

Suddenly, everyone starts yelling at him to wake up; wait are you serious?! He fell asleep?! Tonjit jerks up, eyes open, "Red Light Green Light stop!" He blurts out and we all barely manage to skid to a halt.

Tonjit looks out and out of the corner of my eye, I see that the Fishman has jumped into the air over Nami, Usopp, and Chopper. He realizes his mistake in midair and Tonjit points to him, "You're out."

Guess he was so focused on our friends that he wasn't listening. Well, I'm glad this is catching the Foxy pirates off guard along with us. Maybe Usopp was right; having this guy be the stoplight kinda is giving us a fighting chance.

"What the heck? I thought this would be an easy win!" Porche whines. Alright, we're super close now! It's do or die!

"Alright Sanji! Alright Pika-chan! You can do it!" Luffy cheers. Tonjit shivers slightly from the wind and covers his eyes again. We take off, this time putting everything into our speed.

Sanji and I begin to pass Hamburg and Porche, when they both smile. "Alright Hamburg! Let him have it!" Porche orders.

"You got it!" Hamburg pulls out his iron clubs and begins to swing them towards us.

"Pika-chan, keep going!" Sanji yells. I nod and easily duck and run, while Sanji flips over the club.

"Oh no! One's getting away!" Porche yells, looking at me.

"You want another piece of me gorilla-man?!" Sanji taunts Hamburg.

"You're mincemeat!" Hamburg says and begins swinging at Sanji.

"Hamburg and Sanji are now going head to head!" The announcer yells. "Meanwhile, what's this?!"

I see Cheetah's eyes widen in shock as I begin to run alongside him, barely keeping up with his speed thanks to my small size.

"Pika-chan and Cheetah are neck and neck! They're both sprinting towards the stop light!"

Cheetah growls and begins to pick up the pace, and I close my eyes, pushing myself as hard as I can. I run, increasing my speed little by little, but we're so close and Cheetah takes a flying leap ahead of me! No! My eyes widen in horror as Cheetah stops running and reaches out to tag Tonjit, me just mere feet behind when-

"ACHOO!" I freeze in my tracks as Tonjit looks out, a trail of snot attached to Cheetah's face. Cheetah yelps and begins rubbing the mucas off him and Tonjit points to him, "You're out."

...No freaking way…

"He hadn't even started saying Red Light, Green Light yet!" The announcer yells. "He was just starting to sneeze the whole time! All that running for nothing!"

Cheetah falls to his knees in defeat while the Foxy pirates yell in indignation. Cheetah moves to the edge of the path and sits down with a huff, while Tonjit covers his eyes again, now saying Green Light.

It's then that I realize that I'm only a few feet from Tonjit, and I'm the only one here! A wide smile comes to my face; I can't believe my luck! This is it!

I can hear Luffy cheering as loud as he can. "GO PIKA-CHAN! GOOOO! TOUCH THE STILTS GUY!" You don't have to tell me twice!

I run the rest of the way and leap up onto Tonjit's shoulder, causing him to stop talking. "Oh, it's you." He says, looking at me. "You tagged me; you win."

"Pika!" I cheer, punching the air. The crowd roars and I flash a peace sign with a wide smile. We travel back to the main island, and I'm tackled by Chopper, Usopp, and Sanji.

"You were amazing, Pika-chan!" Chopper exclaims.

"I knew we could count on you!" Usopp says.

"Way to go, partner! Robin's as good as ours!" Sanji praises.

I blush and Luffy joins our group, picking me up, "Celebratory toss!" He yells, throwing me into the air. The other three join in and I laugh happily as I'm tossed into the air over and over again as the fireworks pop above us.

"Team Straw Hat pulls out a come from behind victory!" The announcer yells. "Now it's time for the captain to choose his newest member!"

Well, the answer's obvious. "Robin! Come on back!" Luffy calls.

Robin smiles and takes off her mask, "Nice knowing you." She says sweetly to the other Foxy pirates and comes back over to our group.

"Robin~!" Sanji croons, wiggling over to her, "Welcome back, my love!" "Thank you." Robin says.

"We're all back together again!" Chopper cheers.

"I wouldn't celebrate yet." Nami says. "We still have one more round to go."

"She's right." Robin agrees. "If we lose the next round, this victory will have been for nothing."

Luffy grins and cracks his knuckles, "Don't worry, I'm in the next round." He says. "I'll win it, no sweat."

Foxy laughs, "That's what you think!" He cackles. "I won't tell you what the next round entails, but there is almost no chance that you will win!"

"We'll see about that, Splithead!" Luffy yells, making Foxy collapse in depression again.

"I don't know guys…" Usopp says. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I have faith in Luffy, but this is still a pretty big risk! If we lose this round, we'll lose a crewmember again!"

Luffy shrugs, "So? Then we'll just challenge them again!"

"Yeah, but not three rounds again!" Nami says.

"Sorry, but no can do!" Foxy says, springing up again. "You can beg us for a third fight all you want, but my crew is spent; we had five Davy Back challenges with the previous crew before you arrived!" He puffs out his chest, "A true captain knows when to fight his battle and when it's time to withdraw!"

My ears droop; oh really? "You gotta be kidding me," Zoro scoffs, "First you brag about how strong you are and now we're supposed to feel sorry for you?"

Sanji shakes his head, "Poor Foxy, so strong he has to cheat to win." Nice to know these two can agree on something when it comes to sizing up opponents, but that's not really gonna help us here.

"Now what?" Usopp asks.

"Relax, it's not like I'm gonna lose." Luffy says.

"You say that now, but we have no idea what's in store for us next!" Usopp responds. "If we lose then we're gonna lose a crewmate forever!"

"I don't wanna be a Foxy pirate again…" Chopper whimpers, fiddling with his hooves.

"Wait." Nami says suddenly. We all stop talking and walks over to Foxy. "Hey Boss, I've got a little proposition for you." Foxy slowly looks up at her. "Instead of one person, let's bet eight this time."

My ears perk up and Usopp starts. "Are you crazy?!"

"Wait." Sanji says, holding a hand out.

"Go on." Foxy says slowly.

"The point of the game is to take a member of someone else's crew," Nami says. "Well we don't want to have any of our crew taken away; even without just one of us, there's no point in having our crew at all." Wow, Nami's getting pretty profound here.

"In fact, you don't even have to risk eight of your crewmates," Nami goes on. "We'll put everything on the line just for this last round. If you win, you get all eight of us together. What do you say?"

Foxy slowly stands up and looks us over, probably considering it. Honestly, it's a pretty good deal if this is after skilled pirates; three of us have bounties for crying out loud! "Alright, you got a deal!" Foxy says. "But what's the point in betting only eight crewmates? How about five hundred?" Wait, what?!

"The Boss is throwing down the gauntlet with his dreaded five hundred man bet!" The announcer yells. "What do you say to that, Straw Hat?"

Luffy frowns, "What would we do with five hundred people? That's the stupidest thing-"

Sanji and Usopp tackle him before he says anything more. "Don't ruin this for us when he already agreed to the important part!" Usopp hisses.

"But we can't fit five hundred people on the Merry!" Luffy protests.

"It doesn't matter as long as we don't lose any of our other crewmates!" Sanji growls.

"Oh, right."

"So, do you accept?" Foxy asks.

"You bet I do!" Luffy yells.

"By the way, since your crew doesn't have five hundred members, you'll have to pay us in your descendants if you lose!" The announcer points out. "That means all your children, grandchildren, and whoever else it takes to make five hundred people will swear their allegiance to the Foxy pirates!" Oh man, I'm starting to regret this gamble.

"This is turning into a pretty weird deal…" Usopp admits.

"It's too late to get cold feet now," Nami says. "The important thing is that we win!" Nami turns to Luffy, "Give it a hundred percent Luffy!"

"Yeah, leave it to me!" Luffy says.

"Pika!" I agree with a firm nod.

Foxy suddenly laughs again, "I hate to burst your bubble, but no one has ever beaten me in a combat round." He says. "You may be captain now, but you'll be swabbing my decks soon enough!"

"You really think you can beat me in a fight?!" Luffy demands.

"Maybe so or maybe not." Foxy says, walking away. "After all this isn't really a fight; it's a game."

I frown as we watch him go; we'll be fine. We're not gonna let this Splithead win and walk all over us! Once we win this, we're home free; and I know Luffy won't let us down.

* * *

 **Alright, one more chapter and we'll be on to the next arc! In the meantime, Happy Holidays and I'll see you whenever I can get the next chapter up!**


	84. Final Round

**I hope everyone had a great holiday season and now it's time to wrap up Davy Back. About time too, I wanna get to the next arc! It's another one I'm excited for!**

* * *

Everyone was pretty hyped up for the final round. All the stands were giving out special deals on snacks and merchandise, and everyone was just in an all around good mood. If our whole crew wasn't on the line, I would've guessed we were celebrating the defeat of a super strong opponent. But then again, that'll probably be the case once Luffy wins this fight.

My nose twitches as the smell of popcorn catches my nose; that smells pretty good! I follow the smell, leading me to a stand, where the vendor smiles down at me, "Hey little fella!" He greets. "Smells good, huh?"

"Pika!" I agree.

The vendor throws a kernel towards me, "Here, have a taste!"

I catch it and eat it, a squeal of happiness escaping me. We should definitely get popcorn for the fight; why not indulge ourselves a bit? I mean, it's not like Luffy's gonna lose...right?

We listen as the rules are shouted by the announcer. Obviously, the fight is one on one so none of us can help Luffy. Luffy and Foxy spun a cannon around earlier to see where they would fight, and through cheating once again, the cannon pointed towards Foxy's ship.

The fighting ground is a circle within fifty meters of where the cannonball landed, and anything weapon wise within that circle is fair game. Luffy is eventually taken aside to get ready for the big fight, and he takes Usopp with him to help.

Eventually the time comes and we all take our seats, popcorn and drinks in hand. Two cannons are shot into the sky and the area over the Foxy ship and the stands are covered in dark clouds so two pictures of Luffy and Foxy can be projected into the air. Wow, these guys go all out with this stuff.

We watch as Foxy emerges with a few guys and soon, Luffy comes out, Usopp by his side. I tilt my head as Luffy's wearing a cloth as a cloak and Usopp's wearing Luffy's hat; what on earth?

Luffy throws off the cloth and…

Holy crap...is that an afro?!

That...is freaking amazing!

The crowd erupts into roars of delight as Luffy lets out a loud battle cry. "Yeah! Looking sharp, buddy!" Sanji cheers, holding his hands up.

"Pika pika!" I cheer, imitating the gesture from his head.

"That's messed up…" Zoro grumbles.

"Wow, Luffy looks cooler than ever!" Chopper squeals.

"I agree." Robin says with a laugh.

The clouds finally part, allowing the sun to come out and Luffy's afro shines like something out of an epic tale. This fight is going to be the greatest thing in history!

"So funky! I can feel that jive lightin' a fire in mah soul!" Sanji exclaims.

"Pika pika!" I squeal in agreement, sliding down to stand on the back of his neck so my front paws and head rest on top of Sanji's head.

"This is what happens when you leave Luffy alone with Usopp." Zoro says.

"Couldn't he try to show some dignity?" Nami sighs. What are you talking about? Who needs dignity when you have the greatest afro in all the Blues?

Both Foxy and Luffy are sporting boxing gloves and look ready to go; I am so freaking hyped for this! The announcer takes off on his bird and the stands suddenly rise, giving us a better view of the deck of the ship. The cheers grow louder as everyone waits impatiently for the fight to begin.

"Luffy! Don't lose; that's all that matters!" Sanji yells.

"Just watch out for his beam, okay?!" Nami yells.

"Go Luffy!" Chopper yells.

"Pika pika!" I cheer. The bell rings, and the match begins.

"Gum Gum…!"

"Slow Slow Beam!"

We all blink as Luffy's fist flies towards Foxy, only for Foxy to move out of the way and hit Luffy's fist with the beam. Luffy's whole arm begins to vibrate as his fist has slowed down but the rest of him hasn't. Luffy tries to get control, but his arm ends up retracting, pulling his whole body over to his slowly moving fist. Foxy points his fist at Luffy to shoot another beam and Luffy leaps into the air, only for Foxy to hit him dead on with his Slow Slow Beam.

"Luffy!"

"Pika!" We all yell in horror; this has gotten off to a real bad start!

"He's floating; guess that means he falls slowly too." Zoro observes.

"I told him to watch out for that! Why won't he listen to me?!" Nami exclaims.

I sweatdrop and give her a look, "Pika pikachu…" _'He probably couldn't hear you over all the cheering…'_

Foxy moves over and jumps on top of Luffy, "Nine-tailed Rush!" He yells and unleashes a barrage of lightning fast fists onto Luffy. But...it doesn't look like he's hurting him; it looks like he's just punching a frozen statue.

Foxy leaps off Luffy and I squint to see Luffy's face slowly moving and reacting to the attack. Wait...so if reaction to pain is slowed down too, then that means-!

Our eyes widen as Luffy is suddenly pummeled by a barrage of invisible punches, the slowness finally having worn off him. This Devil Fruit power is crazy! I never knew it could be so lethal!

"Luffy!" Chopper screams as Luffy begins to fall overboard. Luckily, Luffy stretches at the last second and saves himself, barely brushing the water. That was close! Luffy follows Foxy onto the ship and out of our sight and a few minutes later, a bunch of explosions go off.

"What's going on?" Nami asks. "I can't make out anything from where we're sitting!" I move to stand on top of Sanji's head and squint, but I can't make out anything except smoke; what the heck are they doing over there?!

"Yeah! Body blow! Body blow!" We turn to see Usopp standing a few feet from us; when did he get here?

"Hey, what's going on with the fight down there?" Nami asks him.

Usopp shrugs, "I don't have a clue."

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Pikachu…" I sigh, slumping on Sanji's head.

 _BOOM!_

We perk up as a massive explosion comes from the main deck of the ship, followed by multiple smaller ones from within. "Oh no...that looks bad!" Chopper cries. You can say that again!

The announcer coughs as he flies around the smoke, "These explosions may have been caused by some Foxy merchandise that just so happened to be explosive!" Ugh, seriously?!

"All this cheating is really pissing me off!" Nami yells. "No wonder that jerk's never lost a match!"

"Luffy! Speak to me!" Usopp wails.

"Sit down, already!" Sanji says, grabbing his shoulder.

"No...he can't lose…" Chopper whimpers.

"Whew, that was close!" The smoke clears and we all stare to see Luffy crouched on top of the sails.

"It's a miracle! Straw Hat Luffy is alive!" The announcer yells. "He evaded an explosion at point blank range!"

"Yeah! That's the power of the 'Fro!" Usopp yells.

"Hurry it up, Luffy!" Sanji urges.

"Pika pika pikachu!" I cheer, madly waving my limbs.

Luffy jumps back down into the smoke, out of our sight once again. We watch and listen as hard as we can for some sign of what's going on, but the cheering is too loud for even me to pick anything up. But eventually, a door on the side of the ship opens and shoves Luffy right out!

"There he is!" Usopp points.

"If he falls in the water he's done for!" Nami yells. Luffy stretches his arm and grabs the railing, hoisting himself back up. Arceus, this is way more stressful than it should be! Luffy looks around and sees an open door with a Foxy pin on it, making a loud noise.

"That Foxy pin is really unimpressed with Straw Hat's performance!" The announcer yells. "You might even say it's laughing at him!"

"Ah-ha! So that's where you are!" Luffy yells.

Nami's eyes widen, "No Luffy, it's a trap!" She yells, "Don't go in there!" But Luffy leaps right off the railing and runs inside the ship.

Nami facepalms and I sigh; guess now all we can do is wait and pray. We wait around for quite a while, the cheering still going strong, but quite a few Foxy pirates are surprised that the fight has lasted this long.

"Luffy won't lose." Zoro says.

"Well that goes without saying!" Usopp agrees. "He's Luffy _and_ he has an afro!"

"I would think being Luffy alone would be more than enough," Sanji says. "Although, the afro is nice." I nod firmly in agreement.

"Okay, you're gonna have to explain this afro thing to me." Nami says. "You act like it powers him up; that makes no sense!" Seriously? How does this girl _not_ know the legendary power of the afro?!

"This is the longest round I've ever seen!" A Foxy pirate exclaims.

"Well, Straw Hat is made of rubber after all." Another says.

"Yeah, rubber _and_ he has an afro." Another adds.

Nami looks at them in exasperation, "Really? Am I the only one who doesn't get this?!"

"I'm not scared." Chopper says firmly, "Cause no matter what, I know Luffy will win this!"

"Of course," Robin nods, "He does have an afro after all."

"Huh?!" Nami stares at her in shock.

"Pika pika!" I agree, punching the air; there's no way Luffy can lose with such an amazing afro!

"You too, Pika-chan?" Nami asks desperately. Let's just say cooking wasn't the only thing I was exposed to while living on the Baratie.

We all jump as there's another loud boom and smoke covers the deck. The smoke clears and Foxy is standing over Luffy, who's burned really badly! What happened?!

"Luffy!" Usopp and Chopper scream.

"Real punches don't burn that badly; what the hell happened?!" Nami exclaims.

Our eyes widen as Luffy slowly but surely gets up, much to the crowd's shock and awe. But Foxy doesn't seem worried. He pulls out a whip that's glowing pink, just like his Slow Slow Beam! He lashes the whip and hits Luffy's wrists and ankles, completely immobilizing him before raining punches down on him.

We all watch in horror as Luffy takes all the punches for the longest thirty seconds ever before he flies into the mast. He lands with a loud thump, but...he slowly gets back up once again.

I whine and tug on my ears; c'mon afro power, don't fail him now!

Foxy hits Luffy with another Slow Slow Beam and rains punches on him yet again; Arceus, this is brutal!

"That beam is for cheaters! Try fighting like a man for once!" Usopp yells, practically leaning over the railing.

Foxy punches him against the mast so hard that the whole damn thing breaks and topples over.

Luffy falls yet again...and once again...he gets back up.

"I won't...let you take...a single member of my crew…" Luffy bites out. "...Even if it kills me!"

The Foxy pirates are all reduced to tears, so moved by Luffy's actions; despite everything...he's still standing for our sake.

"Luffy!" Usopp yells.

"Luffy!" Nami yells.

"Pika!" _'Luffy!'_

Foxy pulls out his whip again and the fight continues. Luffy tries to dodge, but the whip is too fast and he's too worn out, letting the whip hit his ankle. Foxy then fires a cannonball at him but slows it down; then he takes out a weird plane thing and places it on the cannonball with him on top. Oh crap; when that beam wears off of the cannonball, Luffy's gonna get a facefull of cannon and fists!

"Listen!" Sanji yells. "He used his beam on you a few seconds before the cannonball; dodge as soon as you're back to normal!" Oh man, I hope this works!

Luffy skids across the deck as the beam wears off and he tries to run, but Foxy simply turns the plane and lands a direct punch to Luffy's face. Luffy flies into the railing and Foxy leaps off the little plane and leaves the cannonball inside to hit Luffy dead on.

"Is he trying to kill him?!" Nami demands.

The smoke clears, and Luffy's still standing. He wavers and falls back onto all fours for a moment, but slowly and shakily gets back up again. Yes! C'mon afro power, give him the strength to win this!

Luffy and Foxy charge towards each other. "Nine-tailed Rush!"

"Gum Gum Gatling!" There's only a blur of fists between them and we all cheer as loudly as we can. Through all the punches, it looks like Luffy is actually managing to land hits on Foxy while also blocking the punches. But then-

"Slow Slow Beam!"

We all hold our breath...only to see that the beam is going in reverse! Luffy's punch...made the beam go backwards to hit Foxy? How?!

Luffy falls to his knees and a piece of mirror falls out of his glove; no way! But...now's his chance! He can win this thing! Luffy rears back his fist and spins it around, building as much momentum as he can, before slamming Foxy right in the face. Just like before with Luffy, the reaction doesn't happen right away.

Luffy walks away and makes his way to the fox head of the ship as Foxy's face slowly begins to warp from the punch. We count down the thirty seconds, and Luffy lets out a battle cry as Foxy is sent flying into the air and into the ocean. He's out of bounds! We won!

Nami, Usopp, and Chopper jump to their feet in joy while I leap onto the railing. I do a celebratory backflip, cheering as loudly as I can. The Foxy pirates all crowd together and jump into the water after Foxy; oh yeah, he can't swim. Devil Fruit user.

Well, who cares? This fiasco is finally over.

* * *

After everyone's calmed down and patched up, Luffy makes claims his prize. Since Foxy bet five hundred men, he have to choose that many. Luffy first chooses to take the Foxy flag, which is basically the whole sail of the ship. So Luffy paints them a new one, a sucky one, but a new one, while he takes theirs.

Now we have to choose the rest of them. "Aww, do I have to?" Luffy whines.

"Remember, the crewmates have to listen to their captain no matter what." Zoro says.

Luffy brightens, "Oh! Okay then!" He chooses all the Foxy pirates, except for Foxy, Porche, and Hamburg, adding up to five hundred. Of course, it's obvious they won't all fit on the Merry, so they decide to just follow behind us in the big Foxy ship until we can figure something out.

So, we kick Foxy, Porche and Hamburg off the island in their own tiny boat, and all seems right with the world. But now we have to take care of our new crewmates.

"Alright, listen up, men!" Luffy shouts. "It's time for your first job as Straw Hat pirates!"

The former-Foxy pirates all cheer, "You can count on us!"

"You're all dismissed!" Luffy announces. "I don't care if you go back to your old crew's or to Splithead, but you can't stay with me!"

"Captain's orders are absolute so I don't want to hear anyone complaining!" Zoro adds. I cross my arms and nod happily; well said. The Foxy pirates all board the Foxy ship and sail off, looking for Foxy. Glad they're finally out of our hair.

Luffy gives the Foxy flag to Tonjit, and the rest of the day becomes full of surprises. Tonjit's grandson appears, having been trying to beat the world record for digging holes with his giant mole friend; turns out since his grandpa was gone for so long on those stilts, it inspired to break his own record of something new. Robin then suggests for them to use the holes Tonjit's grandson dug to get back to the other villagers, and another problem is solved.

After that, we bid farewell and finally set sail again, the Pose pointing us towards the next island. I gotta admit, it feels really good leaving this island after what we went through on That Island. I think I can look forward to the rest of this voyage again. I leap onto Sanji's shoulder as we stare at the sunset, ready for our next adventure.

* * *

We sail on, following the Pose for a few days until we reach the next island by nightfall. We all decide to drop anchor and sleep, so we can explore the island in the morning.

"Oh, Pikachu." Robin says, catching my attention. I walk over to her and she crouches in front of me, "I was planning on reading the rest of that book we were reading tonight," She says. "I figure that now is as good a time as any; would you care to join me?"

I brighten and nod happily, "Pika pika!"

Sanji smiles, "Well then, I'll see you in the morning Pika-chan." He says. "I'll bring you both something before I crash; is that alright, Robin dear?"

"That would be wonderful." Robin says with a smile.

"Chu!" I respond and Robin makes her way down to Nami's room. I eagerly follow and leap onto the desk; sleep seems like a small luxury compared to knowing what happens next in that book!

Sanji comes down a few moments later, bringing Robin a drink and me an apple; we bid him goodnight and he vanishes into the men's quarters. Soon, everyone's asleep, except for Robin and I. We both gaze at the book, Robin sipping her drink and me nibbling on my apple. Despite yawning a few times during our reading, the apple really helped me stay awake.

But after a while my ears twitch. I perk up and look around slightly. I could've sworn I felt something…

"Something wrong?" Robin asks softly. I look around a bit more before shrugging. Nami's bed rustles and we turn to see Nami, looking a bit uncomfortable in her slumber. She must be having a bad dream.

Robin goes back to reading and I soon follow, keeping an ear out in case Nami's distress heightens. The rest of the night goes by undisturbed and before we know it, dawn is breaking over the horizon.

"Alright, this is a good place to stop." Robin says. I nod and she closes the book while I yawn; I'm terrible at all-nighters. She goes to put it away and I wander over to Nami, who's still sound asleep.

I leap onto her bed and she opens her eyes. "Pika!" _'Morning!'_ I greet.

However, instead of giving me a smile and a pat, Nami just...stares at me. My smile fades and I tilt my head; she's looking at me like...she's never seen me before.

"Oh, you're awake." Robin says from the bookshelf.

Nami looks at her, the same expression on her face.

"Are you feeling okay?" Robin asks.

Nami looks around the room a bit more, gives me one more glance, and then looks at Robin again. "Who...are you?"

* * *

 **Out of the frying pan and into the fire, as is typical of One Piece.**

 **I'm sorry if you think I'm stalling Water 7, but I'm not. This mini arc is about memory loss, how could I NOT put Pika-chan through this? But don't worry, I'm gonna try to press this arc into two chapters, then we'll get to Movie 7, and THEN we'll get into Water 7.**

 **I know the whole Foxy thing happens beforehand but Pika-chan will wrap that up in one chapter so patience my munchkins. The exciting plots will soon come! ;)**


	85. Memory Loss

_"Are you feeling okay?" Robin asks._

 _Nami looks around the room a bit more, gives me one more glance, and then looks at Robin again. "Who...are you?"_

My eyes widen in fear and confusion and I take a step back as if she just slapped me. I...I heard that wrong, right? That's totally not what she said, that can't be what she said!

I smile uneasily, "Pika." I say and move towards her and Nami, only to have her recoil and stare at me. Her eyes are full of confusion and fear...a look I know all too well.

"What are you supposed to be?" Nami says, staring hard at me. "Some kind of yellow mouse?" Oh Arceus...no...this can't be happening…

Robin takes a step towards her, "Miss Navigator, are you feeling alright?" She asks.

Nami's eyes narrow, "Navigator? Who the hell are you?" She looks at me again, her eyes filling with distrust, "And would you quit staring at me?"

I don't stop and continue to move towards her, _'Nami…'_ I say weakly, reaching towards her.

Nami flinches and leaps out of bed, pressing her back against the wall. She glances around the room, her whole body tense, probably looking for a way to escape or something to fight with. "Where am I?!" She demands.

"Do you not know where you are?" Robin asks.

"I wouldn't be asking if I did, would I?" Nami snaps. "How did I even get here? I went to sleep on another ship and it definitely didn't have a room like this!"

Robin puts a hand on her chin, "Oh dear, this is a problem." Understatement of the century! This is a huge problem! This is a disaster waiting to happen! Our navigator has amnesia and has basically reverted back to her cat thief persona! This is the biggest problem we could possibly have!

"Pika pika pi!" I whine, tugging on my ears.

Robin kneels down and strokes my head, her calm demeanor seeping into me, "Calm down, panicking won't solve anything." She says, a motherly tone in her voice. "Let's wake the others; perhaps our doctor can figure out what's wrong." I slowly nod; yeah, the others. They'll know what to do.

"Others? Doctor?! What the hell's going on?!" Nami nearly yells.

"Please, calm down." Robin says, facing her and standing again. "We don't mean you any harm."

"And why should I believe you?" Nami demands.

Robin puts a knowing smile on her face, "If we wanted to hurt you, don't you think we would've done so already?"

Nami's resolve wavers, and Robin moves towards the stairs, "Come outside with us; I'll explain everything I can." I jump off the bed and follow her, and Nami grudgingly follows us, hunched down low and on the lookout for any danger. She's acting like an animal in unfamiliar territory.

We climb to the main deck to find Luffy, Usopp and Sanji all outside, and I shudder; I have a bad feeling about this. "We seem to have a bit of a problem here." Robin says. "Our navigator can't seem to remember anything."

"Pika…" I say uneasily.

"Who are those guys?" Luffy asks, making my eyes widen. "Are they a part of your crew too?" Luffy asks Usopp.

"Uh, y-yeah, they sure are!" Usopp blurts out, obviously lying.

No...no this can't be happening! But if Nami, Usopp, and Luffy have lost their memories too then...Sanji!

I quickly go over to my partner and he looks down at me. "What do you want?" he asks.

I swallow and jump onto his shoulder, making him flinch. "What the hell...get off me!" He picks me up and holds me in front of him. "What the hell even is this…?" He trails off, talking to himself.

I look up at him, "P-Pika…" _'S-Sanji...it's me…'_

"Do you not recognize the creature you're holding?" Robin asks.

I stare at Sanji expectantly but he doesn't even spare me a second glance. "Should I?"

My heart nearly breaks.

"Alright," Nami steps forward, "Would one of you creeps please tell me where I am?" She demands. "And also…"

Nami turns and we all follow her gaze. Chopper's hiding behind a barrel, backwards once again, looking scared out of his mind. No, not him too! Sanji's grip on me loosens and I drop to the ground.

"Isn't that backwards?" Robin asks. Chopper flinches and fixes his position, still peeking out at us. I can't help but bite my lip at the fear in his eyes; Chopper should not be looking at us like that!

"What's that thing?" Luffy asks in awe.

"A deer." Usopp says, just as amazed.

"Shut your pie-hole human, I'm a reindeer!" Chopper yells loudly.

"IT TALKS?!" Luffy and Usopp exclaim. Chopper squeaks and zips back behind the barrel.

"Hey! Let's catch it!" Luffy announces and starts to chase Chopper.

"No! Don't chase that thing!" Usopp protests.

"Hey you, girl! Help me catch this thing!" Luffy yells.

Nami flinches, "No way! Buzz off, loser!" Chaos begins as Luffy chases Chopper all around the ship. I slowly back towards Robin, shaking in fear; I should be used to this chaos but this is all wrong! All of this is wrong!

"Oh boy…" Robin sighs. "Where do I even begin to explain this?" I think that's the least of our worries! I want to know why everyone's lost their memories!

"Alright, that's enough!" Robin says loudly. "If anyone wants answers, listen up!"

Everyone stops in their tracks and focuses on Robin and me. "Okay...we're listening." Usopp says, suspicion in his gaze.

"Well first of all, we're currently located somewhere on the Grand Line; do any of you remember that?" Robin asks.

"The Grand Line?!" Luffy exclaims happily, leaping onto the railing.

"How are you happy about this?!" Usopp demands. "The Grand Line is the most dangerous sea in the world! The only rational reaction is to freak out!"

"Just looks like a regular ocean to me." Luffy shrugs. "Are you sure this is the Grand Line?"

Robin smiles and turns to Nami, "Navigator, do you recognize the device on your wrist?"

Nami blinks and looks down at her wrist, starting in shock, "What the hell is this thing?!"

"It's called a Log Pose." Robin answers. "Compasses don't work here, so we have to navigate using the island's magnetic field, which is what the Log Pose is for."

"Excuse me, miss?" Sanji asks. "But do you have any suggestions on to how I can get back to my restaurant in the East Blue? The last thing I want is to lose my job." I almost roll my eyes at how relaxed he sounds; back when he worked there, there was _nothing_ he could do that could get him fired.

"I'm afraid that's nearly impossible." Robin says. "It's taken us a very long time to reach this point in our journey; going back would be nothing short of suicide."

"You don't actually expect me to believe all this, do you?" Nami asks. "Why would I travel around with a bunch of people I have nothing in common with?"

I shudder as that comment in particular really stings; do humans really prefer to be around people like them? I guess I've been around different people so often that not being around different people is foreign to me.

"That's why." Robin says, pointing to the Jolly Roger. I look at Nami as her eyes widen in both terror and anger, and her lips press together in a thin line, sending a big wave of hate my way.

"We're on a pirate ship?!" Luffy asks happily.

"I told you, you're on Captain Usopp's famous pirate ship!" Usopp says. Oh Arceus, the last thing we need is for Usopp to be planting his lies in the others.

"Then why does the flag have a straw hat on it?" Sanji asks.

Usopp freezes and looks at Luffy, "Because…" He runs over to Luffy, "This hat is mine!"

I squeak and hold up my paws, "Pika pi!" _'Usopp, no!'_ But he's already swiped Luffy's hat and placed it on his own head.

"Hey! Give that back!" Luffy yells and grabs it back, pushing Usopp over the railing in the process. Luckily, Luffy stretches his arm and pulls Usopp back over, getting right in his face, "Touch my hat again and I'll kick your butt to the other side of the ocean!"

I feel a touch of relief that Luffy remembers his hat; in fact everyone seems to at least know who they are, but-

"Well, one thing's for sure now." Nami mutters. "Everything you've told us is a big heaping pile of nonsense." She glares at Robin, "I hate pirates, every last stinking one of them! The only things I love are money and tangerines, and I don't see either of those here!"

I flinch back from her hateful words. I haven't seen her act like this since...since we first met in Kokoyashi Village, back when it was under Arlong's rule…

"Tangerines, like those?" Robin asks, pointing to Nami's little tangerine grove (where Chopper is currently hiding backwards).

Nami's eyes widen, "What are those doing here?" Robin crosses her arms and makes an extra arm appear to toss down a tangerine. Nami flinches and catches it. "What just happened?" She squeaked.

"That tree grew an arm!" Usopp exclaims in fear.

"A mystery tree!" Luffy says excitedly.

"Do you recognize that?" Robin asks Nami.

"I know it's one of Bellemere's tangerine's, I'd know them anywhere!" Nami snaps. "But what are they doing on this ship?!"

"I'm afraid I don't know all the details." Robin says. "If you really want to know, then check the Log Book in your room." My ears perk up; yeah, the Log Book! Nami's been journaling about our journey even more than I have! That's bound to jog her memories!

Nami disappears back into her room and Luffy and Usopp resume chasing Chopper. "Reindeer, huh?" Sanji says, lighting a cigarette. "That's a true delicacy right there."

Luffy perks up happily, finally having caught Chopper. "You mean we can eat it?!"

Sanji nods, "Reindeer steak with berry sauce is truly the finest meal you can make."

"Then steak it is!" Luffy announces.

Chopper, who's been screaming and crying all the while, finally growls with rage, "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Luffy and Usopp's jaws drop as Chopper morphs into Heavy Point. "I'M NOT HUMAN FOOD YOU SICKOS!" Chopper roars and punches Luffy aside.

My eyes widen in fear as Chopper then hits Usopp and the mast with a dangerous creak, and I run over to him. "Pika pika!" _'Chopper calm down!'_ I cry; Merry's taken enough abuse!

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Chopper yells, but not taking a swing at me.

"You really shouldn't eat him; he's the ship's doctor after all." Robin says.

"He is?" Sanji asks.

"Yes, and a very brilliant one at that." Robin says.

Chopper suddenly shrinks back to Brain Point and claps with a big smile, "Shut up! You can praise me all you want but it won't make me happy!"

"You look like you do." Sanji can't help but point out. I smile uneasily at the familiar sight; at least they're all the same quirky humans I know.

...But they're not _my_ quirky humans…

"His name is Chopper; he's a reindeer with human like qualities from eating the Human Human Devil Fruit." Robin explains. "And he's not the only one; I ate the Flower Flower Fruit and gained Devil Fruit powers as well." She makes a few extra arms sprout from her original one to prove her point. "And Luffy is a Devil Fruit user as well, isn't that right?" She asks Luffy.

"Yup; I ate the Gum Gum Fruit!" Luffy states proudly. "My whole body is made of rubber!" Usopp looks pretty terrified after figuring out that he's around three Devil Fruit users.

"What about the mouse?" Sanji asks, looking down at me. "What Devil Fruit did it eat?"

"Yeah…" Usopp agrees. "Now that you mention it, it sure is weird looking for a mouse." I try my hardest not to flinch as they don't use my name.

"Its name is Pikachu, more commonly known as Pika-chan." Robin answers. "I'm certain it didn't eat any fruit; it can still swim after all." Robin looks at me. "However, it does have abilities that utilize speed, strength and lightning." I make sparks fly from my cheeks to prove her point.

"Whoa! You can shoot lightning?" Luffy asks excitedly. I nod and Luffy jumps up and down, "Ooh! Show me show me show me!"

I smile uneasily; I guess it couldn't hurt to give them a demonstration. I charge up and aim my electricity towards the sky, making multiple streaks of electricity dance together for a few moments before they all strike Luffy, not hurting him in the slightest.

Luffy giggles as my lightning covers him, "That tickles!" I would laugh with him, but this isn't right…

"So...you guys are real pirates?" Chopper asks.

"We are." Robin nods, "And you're a pirate too; we've been sailing together as an eight member crew."

"Wait, eight?" Usopp asks.

Robin looks up at the crow's nest, "You up there, Swordsman?" She calls. My ears perk up; I forgot about Zoro! Maybe he still remembers!

Zoro jumps down and lands heavily on the deck, "It's a bit early for this much racket," He growls, "I was trying to sleep."

"What the heck?! Who is this guy?!" Usopp yells. "You're supposed to give your name before asking for a stranger's." Zoro says gruffly, crushing my last shred of hope. He's forgotten too...how can this be happening?

"Hi, I'm Luffy, what's your name?" Luffy asks.

"Roronoa Zoro."

Sanji blinks, "The Pirate Hunter?"

Zoro looks at him, "That's not a description I apply to myself; other people stuck me with it."

"But you _are_ a bounty hunter." Sanji says.

"Yeah, but only when I need money to live." Zoro responds.

"Then you must be hunting a pirate on this ship, right?" Sanji says.

Zoro shrugs, "Beats me; I don't have a clue how I got here." He looks around, "So...you guys notorious pirates or anything?"

Usopp flinches, "This guy wants to sell our heads for money!" He yells. "Well fine then, I-"

I quickly raise my paw and give him a Lightning Bullet, shutting him up. The last thing we need is Zoro being set loose on us.

Zoro looks at me, "Wasn't expecting that from a rodent."

Suddenly, we hear an engine rev up, followed by a shriek from Nami. We all turn to see Nami drive the waver out onto the main deck.

"Whoa, cool!" Luffy exclaims.

My eyes widen as I spy the giant bag of our gold behind her; she's trying to make a break for it! "Pikachu!" _'Nami, no!'_ I cry, running towards her. I try to leap onto the waver, but she steps on the gas; using Usopp as a ramp, she flies into the ocean.

I leap onto the railing and watch her head towards the island; this is bad, this is really really bad! I suddenly hear a splash, and I whirl around; where's Zoro?! I run over to the other railing and spy Zoro swimming towards the island; no no no, this can't happen!

"Pika! Pika pika pi!" _'Zoro, no! Come back! You can't leave!'_ I yell after him. He ignores me and keeps swimming.

I tug on my ears again; this is really really really bad! What are we going to do?! Just about everyone has amnesia and two of them just took off! We can't leave them alone like this, who knows what they'll do! If we don't get them back to normal soon who knows what could happen!

My thoughts are cut off as Robin picks me up, stroking my head calmly, "Don't worry." She says, watching Zoro go, "We're going to figure out what exactly happened to everybody."

I look up at her worriedly; I hope we can.

* * *

Once everyone's calmed down, we all (minus Chopper) sit in the galley. Sanji makes some lunch while Robin tells us of all our adventures since she joined the crew. I would tell them what we did beforehand but they wouldn't get it anyway.

Robin tells them about Alabasta, Luffy's bounty, the Rainbow Mist, Jaya, Skypiea, even the Dead End race, the Marine fortress, and the Davy Back fight. (She doesn't mention That Island and I'm very grateful for that.) She even sprinkles in a few tidbits about what we've told her about our past adventures, like how we get along.

"Sounds like quite the adventure." Sanji says, giving Robin some tea. "And it's all true?"

"Yes." Robin says and I nod as well.

"Do you know any more stories?" Luffy asks. "I wanna remember all this stuff!"

"I didn't join your crew until after you left Alabasta." Robin answers. "The only one who would know about what happened before that would be Pikachu, but unfortunately, it's language can't be understood by humans; it can only say its name and nothing else."

I nod to confirm her words, "Pikachu."

"Man, that sucks." Luffy grumbles.

Sanji takes a seat at the table and looks at me, "So you and me are partners, huh?" I give a nod.

Sanji studies me, "You don't look like any creature I've ever seen before; how the hell did I come across you?"

"I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that." Robin says. "But from what I've come to learn from being on this ship, the two of you spend almost every moment together." She smiles. "In simple terms, you're the best of friends."

Sanji looks back at me and I give a smile. He then slowly reaches towards me and gives me a hesitant pat; it reminds of when we first met and he pet me while I was sleeping. I lean into his touch, probably hoping that it would jog his memory, but no such luck.

"Can you tell us what happened last night?" Sanji asks. "Yes; but let's include the ship's doctor." Robin says. One of her arms appears by the door to open it and Chopper tumbles in. He hides behind the door and Robin giggles, "You're still doing it backwards."

Chopper growls and readjusts himself, "Shut up, I'll do it how I want!"

"Why don't you sit down and have something to eat?" Sanji offers, standing up.

Chopper scrambles to the wall, "Do you really think I'm gonna fall for that?!" He demands.

Robin smiles, "Please, join us; we need your brilliant input."

Chopper suddenly appears by the table, wiggling around, "You dummy, you're not gonna win me over by flattering me!"

After that, Robin recounts the previous night, up to when everyone went to sleep, except for herself, me, and Zoro who was on watch. But Sanji points out that Zoro probably fell asleep since he was so mad about being woken up. I don't why we trust Zoro for watch duty sometimes.

So, the only difference here is that Robin and I didn't go to sleep, since we still remember everything. After that we find out that the others all remember going to bed, but not on the ship. Chopper remembers being in the castle on Drum, Sanji was at the Baratie, Usopp was on his own island, and Luffy was in a barrel.

So they still have a pretty good chunk of memories, but...they don't remember our voyage...or me.

Suddenly, the kettle starts to whistle, and we all flinch. "That's right!" Chopper exclaims. "I remember hearing someone blow a horn!"

"Same here!" Luffy agrees.

"Me too." Sanji says.

"And then...a little boy appeared out of nowhere!" Usopp finishes.

A horn? A little boy? ...Actually, I wonder if Nami heard the same thing? She was tossing and turning in her sleep like she was having a nightmare, and I remember feeling some weird feeling when that happened...could that have something to do with it?

"Hang on." Sanji says, his eyes narrowing. "I don't think we lost our memories; maybe that kid stole them from us." My ears twitch and I tense greatly; stolen memories?

"Well, we don't know that for sure." Robin says. "But I bet that child is the answer to our situation."

"Do you think we'll lose more memories every time we fall asleep?" Chopper asks.

Usopp screams suddenly, making Chopper jump, "Don't scare me like that!" Usopp snaps. "Look, supernatural stuff like that isn't real! It was just a dream!"

"You don't think it's weird that we all had the same dream?" Sanji retorts.

"I don't mean to scare you, but if this keeps happening you could be incapable of remembering who you are. Robin says. Silence envelops the room.

"Hey, is the mouse okay?" Sanji suddenly asks. "It's shaking like crazy."

I am? Huh, I guess I am, though can you blame me?

Chopper walks across the table and places a hesitant hoof on my back, "Hey, are you okay?" He asks gently, checking my pulse.

"Pikachu probably understands the gravity of the situation." Robin says. "It has a sixth sense of sorts when it comes to the emotions of humans around it; it's most likely picking up on your fear and anxiety." I can't help but be a bit grateful that she doesn't mention my own amnesia. That would only raise more questions.

"Hey." Luffy stands up. "What does it matter whether or not we get our memories back, anyway?" I freeze and my eyes narrow.

"I mean, yeah it sucks that we can't remember any of that fun stuff, but that's a good reason to start over and-"

"PIKA!" _'SHUT UP!'_ I snap. Chopper leaps away from me and everyone tenses at my outburst.

I glare at Luffy and take a step towards him, _'How can you say that like your memories are replaceable?! They're not just something you can throw out like trash! Memories are special; they're things that can't be recreated! Sure, you can make new memories, but they can't possibly replace the old ones!'_

I approach Luffy angrily, _'It doesn't matter if they're lost or stolen, you should never take them for granted, EVER! You should try and get them back and do whatever it takes to protect them! If I hear you say crap like that again, I'll tie you to the anchor and throw you into the ocean, got it?!'_

Luffy stares at me as I glare at him, baring my fangs. Everyone's staring at me, but it bounces off me.

I leap off the table and head towards the door, "Pika." _'C'mon,'_ I say sharply. _'We have work to do if we want to find out what's going on.'_ And I exit the galley.

* * *

The five Straw Hats stared at the door that Pika-chan just exited.

"What...just happened?" Usopp asked.

"I think we just got told off by a yellow mouse." Sanji said slowly.

"I think it said something about finding out what's going on?" Chopper offered.

"Well, Pikachu seems pretty passionate about finding out what happened." Robin says, inwardly smiling. That little creature was really something.

Luffy slowly grinned and laughed, "That rat sure is weird, but I like it!"

* * *

 **As you can see, Pika-chan has VERY strong feelings about memories, and for good reason.**

 **God this arc is PERFECT for Pika-chan! I forgot just HOW perfect, and I love it!**


	86. Memory Thief

I sit on the upper railing, staring at the starry night sky. I tune my senses up as high as they'll possibly go; I have to be ready when this memory thief comes back. Whoever this bastard is, he's not taking anymore memories tonight or any other night! I don't care if it's a kid or whatever it was they saw in their dream, I'm gonna pound them into the ground!

The rest of the Straw Hats are inside the galley, trying in vain to stay awake. I think Robin and I are the only ones who are actually good at pulling all-nighters, even though I live sleep just as much as the next Pikachu.

As I sit quietly, I can't help but feel a little bad for snapping at Luffy like that. He has no memories so he's not acting like he would now. I know that if Luffy had his memories he wouldn't just sit around when something took everyone's memories. I clench my paws into fists; what kind of sick monster would steal people's memories? Why would they do something so...so...inhuman?!

We had spent the whole day trying to figure out any other leads, but all the books about the island stated that it was completely normal; and it certainly didn't help that everyone being memory wiped we had to deal with their quirks being more annoying than usual.

The galley door opens and I sharply turn around, on alert, "Easy! It's just me." Sanji says, holding his hands up. I deflate slightly and notice a bowl in his hands, "I thought you might want something to eat, to keep you awake."

He brings the bowl to me and I see that it's filled with apple slices. I give a small smile and start to nibble on one, still watching the ocean.

Sanji then puts a hand on my head, making me flinch, "You're pretty tense, aren't you?" I give him a look; what did you expect? "And you got pretty pissed earlier; I gotta say, you've got pretty strong emotions for a mouse." Well, that's just what I am. ...And it's because of you that my emotions are so strong towards you guys.

All of a sudden, I hear the low blow of a horn. I get to all fours and growl, sparks flying from my cheeks. Sanji feels it to. We look out to see a strange little hooded figure, holding a horn shaped like a seahorse. "What are you doing up?" He says. "Everyone here is supposed to be asleep."

Robin bursts out of the galley and crosses her arms, "So you're the one who took everyone's memories!"

"Pika pika!" I growl, sparks flying from my cheeks.

The figure chuckles, "I'm surprised you figured it out." He lowers his hood, revealing a little boy with a strange hat. "Not that it will change anything." My ears twitch and I turn to see Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper stir in their sleep.

Robin quickly makes hands appear, smacking them awake. They groggily get up, one by one, but fully snap awake when they see the boy. "He's back!" Usopp yells, and Chopper screams.

The boy growls, "You should have let them sleep!" He brings the horn to his lips and blows. The eyes on the seahorse glow red and a light flashes. Sanji, Robin, and I all cry out as pain erupts in our heads. I cringe and curl in on myself when I start to topple forward; I forgot I was on the railing! Suddenly, an arm comes out and wraps around me. Sanji keeps me balanced while keeping a hand on his head, almost falling to his knees from the pain.

And then, Luffy suddenly appears on the deck, "Hey! What do you think you're doing up there?!" He demands. The boy stops blowing in surprise and the pain subsides.

"Who said you could sit up there?!" Luffy demands. "I claimed that spot earlier!" Luffy stretches his arm and flies towards the head, but the boy kicks his hand off at the last minute. Luffy hits the ground and flips up towards the head, kicking the horn out of the boy's arms.

Luffy lifts his head, his foot still resting on the horn, when blue smoke emerges from the mouth of the seahorse. We all hurry over as the boy and the horn vanish, while the smoke completely covers Luffy.

"What's happening to him?" Usopp asks in horror. Luffy falls back off the head and onto the deck as the smoke slowly enters his mouth.

"What was that?!" Usopp cries.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Sanji asks.

"He's not moving." Robin says.

I quickly wander over and nudge Luffy's shoulder, "Pika? Pika pi?" _'Luffy? You okay?'_

Luckily, he opens his eyes. Luffy then slowly sits up and opens his eyes. He blinks, before laughing and letting out a loud cheer. "I got all my memories back!"

Though it shouldn't matter, those words make me happier than ever. It means we can get the other's memories back too! "Pika!"

I jump onto Luffy's chest, knocking back down, "Whoa!"

"Pika! Pika pikachu!" I cry, nuzzling his face.

"Hey Pika-chan!" Luffy says, sitting up and holding me, "Sorry for freaking you out."

"Pika!" I squeal happily.

"Wow…" Chopper says softly, "That mouse is really happy…"

Robin steps forward, "Welcome back, Captain."

Usopp starts, "Wait, what?!"

Luffy stands up, still holding me as I just about breathe in his essence; it feels like it's been an eternity since he was normal! "Hey Robin!" Luffy greets.

"Hold on, back up!" Usopp exclaims. " _You're_ the captain?!"

"Yep!" Luffy chirps, "And what a lucky break; if I didn't get my memory back I'd be stuck following Usopp's orders!" I can't help but laugh along with him, tears pricking the corners of my eyes; I've never been so relieved to hear him say things like this!

"No way! I'm never gonna believe it!" Usopp exclaims. "I'm the Great Captain Usopp with an army of eight thousand men who obey my every command!"

Luffy laughs, "That's the Usopp I know; but no, you're Usopp the Sniper of the Straw Hat pirates!"

"Chu!" I nod.

Luffy then spies Chopper and puts me down, "Hey Chopper!"

"Ah! K-Keep away!" Chopper squeaks.

"Aw c'mon!" Luffy says, coming towards him. "Let's play like we always do!"

"He got his memories back and yet he's still acting like an idiot." Sanji muses.

"That's right." Robin says. "That captain's always the same, no matter what happens to him." I nod in agreement, my eyes shining with happiness.

"At least now, it's clear what happened." Robin goes on. "That boy stole your memories."

"What would that freaky kid want with our memories anyway?" Usopp asks. That's what I'd like to know.

"Whoa, wait a sec!" Luffy suddenly shouts, "We have to get Nami and Zoro back! C'mon, let's go!"

"We should wait until morning." Robin disagrees. "Searching for two people on an unknown island in the middle of the night is a recipe for disaster."

My ears droop; she's right. As worried as I am about Nami and Zoro we can't possibly find them now.

"We should get some rest and search tomorrow; we gave that boy a lot of trouble so I don't think he'll be back." Robin says. Yeah, but I'm still uneasy about this. I won't be satisfied until everyone's back to normal and out of danger of losing their memories.

"Alright, then it's settled!"

"Hold on." Sanji interrupts, "I'm all for bringing that lovely lady Nami back, but not that Zoro guy." I freeze in horror. "He can just stay gone for all I care."

My pulse speeds up; no…

"I agree!" Usopp chimes in. "If you wanna look for him you can do it on your own!"

I begin to shake and my vision starts to blur. "Please, try to stay calm." Robin says abruptly. "Pikachu is-"

"What are you saying?!" Luffy demands.

"We're saying why bother looking for him." Sanji says.

"He's a pirate hunter!" Usopp agrees, as sparks fly from my cheeks. "Why should we go through-"

"PIKACHU!" _'SHUT UP RIGHT NOW!'_ I slam my paws on the deck as lightning flies around my body in a little shockwave.

I breathe heavily and face Sanji and Usopp, my fangs bared, _'I'm not just gonna stand here and let you denounce one of our friends!'_ I yell. _'I know you guys lost your memories so I'm not surprised that you're acting like this, but I'm drawing the line here! We're not leaving anyone behind!'_

Sanji and Usopp start backing away from me as I advance towards them, _'Now, you guys are going to get some sleep, and in the morning, we're ALL going to beat up that memory thief, and bring Nami AND Zoro back to the ship safely, even if I have paralyze you and drag all of you there by your hair with my teeth! Got it?!'_

"Okay, okay we'll go, just please don't shock me!" Usopp cries, waving his arms frantically.

Luffy laughs, "Well, there you go!" He stops and looks serious. "Pika-chan's right; Nami and Zoro are part of the Straw Hat pirates, and we leave no man behind." He grins, "Now, let's get some sleep; tomorrow, we head for the island!"

* * *

Everyone goes to sleep except for me. Even though Robin said the thief won't come back, I'm not resting until that kid is completely subdued and this whole mess is sorted out.

As I sit on Merry's head, I think back to that kid. I should probably figure out how exactly Luffy got his memories back. That blue smoke came out of that kid's seahorse horn, which seemed to happen after Luffy kicked it. Maybe that horn is what he uses to collect memories; Arceus only knows what he's using them for.

Plus, that horn can cause one monster headache! There's probably a lot more that thing can do other than steal memories. Well, we'll just have to wait and see. But when he find that kid, I'm gonna be ready.

Soon, the sun rises and everyone gets up. Usopp makes a raft to get us across the bay and onto the island, and we start asking around the town. But for some reason, no one's seen Nami or Zoro. In fact, none of them can even seem to remember what they did yesterday! My eyes widen in fear as I put the pieces together.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Chopper asks.

"Pika, pika pika pi!" I say worriedly. I point to the townspeople and imitate the boy blowing into that horn.

Robin nods in understanding, "I think Pikachu is trying to say that the boy from last night took everyone's memories from town." Yeah, and if that's the case, does that mean that Nami and Zoro have lost more memories?!

Suddenly, we hear a motor and we turn to see Nami riding up on the waver. "Hey, Nami!" Luffy calls, waving.

"Oh crap!" Nami exclaims and turns around.

"Hey! Wait!" Luffy cries and stretches his arm towards her, easily stopping the waver. A few moments later, Nami is sitting on the bench hugging her treasure to her chest while I'm on her shoulder, nuzzling her cheek. Thank Arceus she didn't get another brainwash treatment! I don't think I could go through with that again!

"Why'd you run away from us, Nami?" Luffy whines.

"You'll never get this away from me!" Nami yells, clutching her treasure. "And would someone get this thing off me?!" No freaking way, I'm never letting you out of my sight again!

Nami looks at Luffy, "Alright, let's make a deal." She says. "I promise to give you 10% of my treasure, if you'll give me a ride back to Kokoyashi village!" Uh, yeah, that's not gonna happen for multiple reasons.

"No way." Luffy says plainly.

"Okay, then 20%."

"Nuh-uh."

"Fine; 30%!"

"Not gonna happen."

"It'll kill me, but 50%!"

"Sorry."

Nami's face turns red and she stands up, nearly throwing me off. "How much treasure do you plan to swindle me out of?!"

Luffy laughs, "You love gold Nami; there's no way you'd ever give me any of it!"

Nami blinks, "Hey, how'd you know I was gonna double-cross you-ah!" She claps a hand over her mouth.

"Because we're friends Nami!" Luffy says.

"Pikachu!" I chirp.

"Give me a break, why would I ever be friends with the likes of you?!" Nami exclaims. She throws her treasure bag back into the waver and plucks me off her shoulder. She revs up the waver but I quickly move to stand in her way, my face inches from the wheel. "Get your pet to move, please." Nami says tightly.

"Not happening." Luffy shakes his head. "And Pika-chan's not a pet."

Nami growls and looks at me, "Look, you're an innocent mouse and I don't want to have to crush you!"

I shake my head. "Pika." _'You won't; I know it.'_ If this is the same Nami from when I met her, then I know that she'd never do anything to truly harm another living being.

Luffy steps in front of the waver next to me, "Nami, you're coming with us."

"Why would I go anywhere with you?!" Nami demands.

"Miss Navigator." Robin steps up. "You've been feeling that there's something odd about this island ever since you set foot on it, am I wrong?"

Nami stops, her eyes wide; we got her. "There was a boy holding a strange horn."

"Yeah!" Luffy exclaims. "Last night I got a good punch on him and got my memories back!"

Nami shakes her head, "That's ridiculous; are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

"No, it's true." Chopper pipes up. "We all saw it."

"I'm still wondering why he came back." Usopp says.

"It's possible that he wasn't able to get all our memories in one shot." Robin says.

"Alright then," Luffy punches the air, "Let's kick that little runt's butt again and get everyone's memories back! Then Zoro will rejoin our crew!" Hear hear!

"Do we really have to go for Zoro?" Usopp speaks up, and my eyes narrow. "Even if we get our memories back, it's a bit unsettling-"

He jumps back with a yelp as a snarl loudly, sparks flying from my cheeks. I won't have anyone shit-talking my friends, even if the shit-talking is being done by my friends themselves!

Luffy nods, "Zoro's the swordsman and Nami's the navigator, and they're a part of our crew."

"Quit saying that!" Nami exclaims. "It still really bothers me thinking that I'm a pirate!"

"Well, I'm the one who's gonna be bothered if we leave you behind." Luffy says. "Without a navigator, the ship can't go anywhere!"

"Chu!" I nod firmly.

"Robin, do you have any idea where that kid might be hiding?" Luffy asks.

"Well, there is one place I'd like to check out." Robin says.

Luffy nods, "Okay, then let's go!" He grabs Nami's wrist and starts to run.

"Hey, my treasure!" Nami cries.

"Don't worry, I got it!" Sanji calls, hauling the bag over his shoulders and running after, closely followed by the rest of us.

* * *

We all hike through the town until we get to a mountain trail. Right outside the entrance, there's a small stone with runes carved into them, which Robin easily deciphers, "It appears that this memory thief isn't who we think it is."

"You mean it's not that little brat?" Sanji asks.

Robin smiles, "Now, let's go; we have to get the Sea God's Palace."

"Sea God's Palace?" We all ask.

"But why?" Luffy asks.

Robin giggles, "Call it a hunch." Well, if there's anyone I trust the most when it comes to hunches, it's Robin.

We walk up the trail for a while, and I try desperately to ignore the multitude of confusion and fear coming from everyone; this is killing me! Usopp and Chopper get separated from us for a few minutes, but when they find their way back, Zoro's with them!

"Pika!" I exclaim happily, moving towards him; but my smile fades quickly. Why is he wearing his bandanna?

"Hey!" Luffy greets, walking towards him. "Decided to rejoin us, then?" My ears twitch as Zoro's eyes widen and his whole body tenses.

"Watch out!" Sanji yells.

"Be careful!" Robin calls.

"Pika!" _'Luffy!'_

Luffy's hat flies into the air as Zoro's sword slices across Luffy's neck. Luffy's head is gone. Nami shrieks, but Luffy catches his hat and raises his head. "That was close; what was that for Zoro?" Luffy asks. Zoro turns towards him and Luffy's smile fades; something's wrong.

Zoro pulls out a second sword and Robin crosses her arms, "Stop it, both of you!"

"Wait," Sanji holds up a hand. "He's acting completely different than he was on the ship." Zoro charges towards Luffy, who barely manages to dodge another slash, stretching up to sit on a tree branch.

"That's dangerous Zoro," Luffy says. "You should stop." Zoro simply turns and slices through the trunk with one slice. Luffy stumbles and the tree begins to fall right towards us. I look up as I realize just how close I am to the tree.

"Whoa, watch it!" I feel someone grab me and pull me out from under the tree just in time. I look up to see myself in Sanji's grasp, Nami's treasure sitting next to him.

Luffy pops out from the branches, "I guess asking you to stop is pointless." He comments.

"What's up with that guy?" Usopp asks.

"It's looks like he's under some kind of hypnosis." Chopper points out.

"Well, that's a pain." Sanji says, putting me down, "We all need to work together to stop him."

"Stay out of this." Luffy says. "You guys go on ahead; I'll take care of him."

We all pause until Robin smiles, "Alright then, let's go."

"Pi." I nod and we start walking.

"No way; he's not actually gonna take on Zoro the Pirate Hunter, is he?!" Usopp exclaims.

"Either way, stopping him isn't an option." Sanji points out.

"Exactly," Robin nods. "Capturing that boy is our priority; we should leave this to the captain."

Everyone hesitates before following us, and we continue up the path. I eventually move to sit on Robin's shoulder as we walk in silence.

"Hold on you guys." Nami calls. We all stop and everyone except Robin and I face her.

"Are you really gonna go along with whatever that woman says?" Nami demands. "She's a pirate remember? Her pet too!" I flinch, but Robin doesn't move. "Pirates are all the same, greedy, devious, and sneaky lowlifes! Don't you get it? Luffy, this woman and that mouse have all been lying to us from the beginning!"

I lower my head, my eyes hidden as I clench the material of Robin's shirt with my paws.

"Leave now and come with me! If you do, I promise I'll take you anywhere you want to go!" Nami says. "You guys want to go back home to your friends and families, don't you?" I slip off Robin's shoulder and slowly face Nami. "I feel the exact same way," She continues, "There's somewhere I really need to be." I slowly walk towards her, my eyes still hidden and she tenses. I stop right at her feet and gently place a paw on her leg as tears drip onto her foot.

"Hey…" Nami says uneasily, "Are you...crying?" Nami kneels in front of me and I take advantage. I leap onto her chest and bury my face in her shoulder, making her flinch. I cling to her as my tears still slowly fall.

"I understand that you can't trust us since you've lost your memory." Robin says. "But out of all of us, I think Pikachu understands that feeling all too well."

"What do you mean?" Usopp asks.

"Pikachu has been battling it's own memory loss," Robin answers. "Ever since it started traveling with you."

"Wait, so its memories got stolen too?" Sanji asks.

"No." Robin answers. "From what I've been told, Pikachu simply woke up long ago with no memory, and it has been trying to get them back ever since." Robin looks at Nami, "You should be grateful that you have a way to get your memories back; Pikachu can only wait and put its trust in us."

Nami looks at me and slowly holds me, standing up straight, "But...then why would it travel with a bunch of strangers?" She asks. "And a bunch of pirates, no less!"

"Because trust is the only thing Pikachu has." Robin answers. "It trusts us to help get its memories back; it knows that if it runs away from its problem and tries to solve it on its own, it will fail. The same can be said for all of you as well." Nami tenses and so does everyone else.

"With the way Pikachu has been acting throughout this whole ordeal, surely all of you must have picked up how worried it is about all of you." Robin says. "Regaining its memories and finding it's true home; _that_ is Pikachu's dream. And it's willing to chase its dream with us, because what's more fun than chasing your dream with other people?"

I feel waves of sadness and conflict coming from everyone.

"I…"

"Well…"

"Um…"

I peek up and look at every one of my friends with teary eyes, begging them not to leave. If they leave...I don't know what I'll do. Well...no matter what decision they make, it'll all be okay as long as we can get their memories back.

I leap back down to the ground from Nami's grasp and start walking up the path, my eyes still hidden and my ears low. I'm not sure what happened, but my heart lifts when I turn back around a few moments later and everyone's following me.

I smile and we continue onwards; we're not going anywhere until everyone's memories are back.

I'm getting my family back, no matter what it takes.

* * *

 **Don't worry Pika-chan, you'll have your family back next chapter!**


	87. Memory Value

**QUICK SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT! I know a few of you have been wanting to get to Water 7, so I've decided, that after this, we'll do Movie 7 and then we'll meet Aokiji and roll right into Water 7.**

 **I had ORIGINALLY planned for us to breeze through the Foxy's Return Filler arc but that was BEFORE I realized how long Davy Back took. So, that filler will be in Perks of the Smallest. So don't worry, Water 7 will be here VERY SOON!**

* * *

We wander on for a while until we reach a little river. The entire place is dotted with old ruins of strange looking buildings. Robin then explains that on that little inscribed rock, there was a legend about a monster that lived here and fed on other people's memories; it's been sapping the islander's memories little by little.

As she's telling the story, my ears twitch and I glance slightly to the side. I see a tiny hooded figure out of the corner of my eye, standing on a tall rock formation. I grit my teeth and slowly make my way away from the group, hiding behind a tree.

The boy flinches as he realizes that I've disappeared, and I quickly scale the tree. I scamper along the branches, only making the leaves rustle ever so slightly, until I've reached my target.

"Hey, where's the mouse go?" Sanji asks.

The boy turns around and I strike. "Pika!" I leap down onto him from the tree, knocking us both off the rock. His hood is knocked down and we both struggle on the ground.

"You insolent pest!" The boy exclaims.

My eyes narrow on the horn that he's still tightly holding. "Pika pikachu!" _'Give me that horn, you monster!'_ I scratch and bite at the boy, as he yells in pain.

"Pikachu, stop!" Robin calls. "It's not the boy!"

I catch her words but I don't let up on my assault. I have to get that horn! I finally jump off the boy and allow him to sit up. Now I've got him. "Pika pika!" I growl, my tail becoming iron. _'Give them back!'_

I swing my tail as hard as I can, a slam the horn right out of the boy's hands, releasing a puff of blue smoke in the process. The horn hits the tall rock with a honk, and lets out even more smoke, while the boy falls on his back.

The boy groans and slowly opens his eyes, "Wha...what happened?"

Sanji and I step towards him, dangerous glares on our faces, "Someone stole our memories." Sanji says lowly. "Was it you?" The boy flinches and scrambles to his feet, running away in fear.

"Pikachu, Mr. Cook," Robin steps towards us, "That boy was just being manipulated."

Really? Then that means the real culprit is…

My eyes narrow and I sharply turn towards the seahorse horn. The seahorse suddenly jumps up and begins to hop away on its tail in a panic.

Oh no you don't! I spring forward and block its path, sparks flying and my fangs bared. "Pika pika!" _'You're not going anywhere until you cough up all my friend's memories!'_

The seahorse honks at me angrily. "Listen, I went through a lot of trouble to get all these memories; I'm not giving them back you idiot!" Chopper says.

"What was that?!" Sanji and Usopp demand.

Chopper squeaks and hides behind Robin, "He said it, not me!"

"The good doctor can understand animals." Robin clarifies.

"Pika!" I yell, activating Brick Break, _'I said, give them back!'_ I slam my tail into the seahorse, making him fly into another rock, making more blue smoke emerge.

The seahorse falls and tries to crawl away, but I run after him. 'I'm gonna make you wish you were never born, you slimy bastard!' White energy surrounds me and I slam into him again, making him fly towards the edge of the river.

"Don't take all the fun!" Sanji says, jumping down towards the seahorse. "I need to give him some payback too!" Sanji gives him a hard kick into the river, and even more blue smoke surrounds him. He freezes as it enters his body...did it work?

I swallow and make my way towards him as the smoke goes into his mouth and disappears. "Pika?" _'Sanji?'_ I ask cautiously.

Sanji looks down at me, "Hey Pika-chan."

My heart swells with hope, my eyes widening greatly. "Pi...Pikachu?" _'Do you...remember me?'_

Sanji frowns, "What's wrong partner? What's with that look?"

My heart nearly explodes as tears fill my eyes. "PIKA PI!" _'YOU'RE BACK!'_ I leap onto his chest so hard it actually causes him to fall to the ground.

"Whoa, easy buddy, easy!" Sanji exclaims. He chuckles as I give him a kiss on the cheeks and start to nuzzle his face happily. "Sorry for scaring you like that."

"Pikachu!" "Sanji! Pika-chan!" Nami exclaims, she and Usopp coming towards us.

My happiness mode goes into overdrive as I bolt towards them. I leap onto Usopp's shoulder, giving him a nuzzle and a kiss before doing the same to Nami. Nami laughs and gives me a hug while Usopp pats my head.

"Boy, someone's in a good mood." Usopp comments.

"Pika pika!"

Chopper then jumps down and I nearly tackle him in a hug. "Whoa! Pika-chan!" He swings with me in a circle to hold my weight and laughs as I nuzzle his soft fur. "I'm glad to see you too!"

Nami kneels down at rubs my ears, "I'm sorry for all those things I said, Pika-chan." She says.

"Yeah, me too." Usopp agrees. "I hope we didn't make you too upset."

I shake my head, "Pika pi, pikachu!" _'I'm just glad I have you back!'_

"I think it said it's just glad that you're all back." Chopper translates.

Robin smiles and joins us, when Sanji stands up, "Wait; we still don't know if the moss-head got his memories back."

"Yeah, you're right." Usopp agrees. "If he's still being manipulated, what will we do?"

My ears twitch as a twig snaps. We all stand and whirl around, Chopper still holding me, to see Zoro coming towards us, his bandana still on his head and his swords drawn.

"Where's Luffy?" Chopper whimpers.

"You don't think...Zoro killed him, do you?" Usopp asks.

"Pika…" _'Zoro…'_

Sanji steps forwards and stands between us and Zoro, "Listen up, if you plan on hurting these lovely ladies you'll have to go through me."

Zoro tenses and readies his swords as we all look on in fear. Sanji darts forwards, flips and lands a hard kick on his shoulder...and Zoro just takes it. He doesn't block or attack back.

Zoro slowly lifts his head to glare at Sanji. "Stay out of my way...dumbass cook."

Everyone freezes and I nearly choke on a sob; I never thought I'd be so happy to hear those words from Zoro! But before everyone can properly react…

"Zoooorooooo!" A blur of red flies right out of the forest, slamming right into Zoro and Sanji. The three of them fly across the river and crash into one of the ruins.

We hurry across the river as they struggle to get up, "Are you guys okay?!" Chopper cries.

"What the hell was that for, Luffy?!" Zoro demands. My smile grows as he drags Luffy out of the rubble.

"So, you got your memory back?" Nami asks.

"Of course I did!" Zoro retorts.

The second Zoro puts away his swords I leap onto his chest, "Pika pi!" I squeal as I knock him to the ground.

Zoro starts from the sudden contact as I start to nuzzle his cheek, squealing happily. "Hey! What're you-?"

"Aww! Looks like Pika-chan missed you!" Nami says.

Zoro blushes slightly but makes no move to take me off his chest, "Stupid rodent…" he mutters.

I ignore him as I try to keep the happiness in my core from overwhelming me. Everyone's memories are back! They're all back! My quirky humans are all back with me!

"Thank goodness we're all back to normal." Usopp says as Zoro sits up, prompting me to jump off.

"Figuring out that the seahorse horn was the cause was brilliant Robin." Sanji says as I move to his shoulder.

"Wait, that was it?" Luffy asks.

"Yes, that was it!" Usopp says. "You were the first to get your memories back and you didn't notice?"

Luffy pouts, "At least I was better than Zoro."

"What?!" Yeah, he's got you there, Snorlax; next time, put your scary face away before interacting with us.

"Where'd that thing go, anyway?" Sanji asks.

We all look at the river where we last saw it. "Did it escape?" Usopp asks. I scan the water and my ears twitch; there's some clear movement down there.

Luckily, Zoro feels it too and slides down to the riverbank, "It's obvious where it is."

We watch carefully and bubbles start to rise to the surface of the otherwise still water. Just then, a seahorse shape appears under the surface and starts to slowly swim away. Wait...was it camouflaging itself the whole time? And now it's trying to swim away? Why didn't it do that earlier?

"BASTARD!" We all flinch at Zoro's yell. "So you think you can manipulate me?! I'll slice you up and serve you for dinner!" Zoro dives into the water and starts to chase the seahorse, splashing water everywhere.

"Wow, he really got to him, didn't he?" Luffy comments.

We all struggle to hold in our laughter as Usopp makes up dialogue for the two, a high voice for the seahorse and a deep voice for Zoro. "Ha ha! Can't catch me! Oh yeah, just you wait! Ha ha ha too slow, jerk! Jerk? How about this?!"

When Zoro finally resurfaces holding the seahorse we all can't take it anymore. I can barely keep myself on Sanji's shoulder as my body racks from laughter; after all the trauma I went through today, I definitely needed this!

"You're next Usopp! Just wait!" Zoro warns. We all continue laughing so loudly that we almost miss the seahorse honking again.

"Now for my last resort!" Chopper translates, still recovering from laughter. Wait, last resort?

We all stop laughing and the seahorse shoots a bunch of purple mist into Zoro's face, making him let go. I quickly turn tail and leap off Sanji's shoulder just narrowly getting away from the purple mist. I stop when I realize that the others aren't following and look across the bank as multiple figures appear.

They slowly make themselves known one by one. First is a woman with shaved pink hair, smoking a cigarette.

"No...it can't be!" Nami exclaims. "Is that you, Bellemere?" Whoa...that's Nami's mom? Or, her adopted mom?

An old man steps forward with a tall hat and crazy gray hair.

Chopper sniffles as tears quickly begin to fall, "Doctor…" So that's Doctor Hiruluk...the closest thing Chopper had to family before we came along.

A young woman with blonde hair is next and Usopp is also quickly reduced to tears, "Kaya!" He exclaims. "Are you...feeling better?" That must be one of Usopp's friends. And judging by his reaction, they must be pretty close.

A young girl with blue hair and holding a sword comes into view; she kinda looks like a younger version of Sword Girl from the Marines. But when I hear Zoro choke on his breath, I realize the truth. That's Kuina...the girl who inspired Zoro to be the strongest swordsman. She's so young...I never knew that Zoro lost her so early in his life.

My eyes widen as a man with a familiar mustache comes into view and Sanji drops his cigarette. It's Zeff! But he looks so much younger and...he has both legs…

Luffy then grins happily as the last two figures come forward. The first one I quickly recognize as Ace, but the other is a man with red hair and a long black cloak with a scar on his face. Wait...I think I remember Luffy telling me about him once...is that Shanks? The guy who gave Luffy his hat?

"How you guys doing?" Luffy asks happily.

Just then, the seahorse lets out a loud honk and the figures all explode into a burst of light. A cold wind rushes through the air and I tense as phantoms begin to fly around. I recognize a few faces like Arlong, Wapol, Kreig and Crocodile. I suppress a shudder as Eneru also makes an appearance as I shake my head; it's just an illusion, he's not real!

"You wanna fight? Bring it!" Luffy yells. "I'll kick all your asses at the same time!" The phantoms circle around for a while until the seahorse's eyes begin to glow brightly. I back away as there's a giant explosion of light, but it quickly fades.

The seahorse then begins honking and Chopper translates. "Thanks to you meddling humans, I lost all the memories from the villagers; but the delicious memories from you are enough for me to transform!"

The seahorse plants itself on a rock in the middle of the river and it's eyes glow brighter than ever. Waves begin to emit from the dragon and I have a feeling we don't want to touch those.

I start to run but quickly realize that none of my crewmates are following; they're just standing there! "Pika pi!" I cry warningly but the bright waves of light hit all my friends.

"PI!" _'NO!'_

I watch in horror as the same blue memory smoke begins to get sapped from my friends, like pollen from a flower. The smoke all goes into the seahorse's mouth and it beings to expand like a giant balloon. We all stare at the light, and when it finally fades, the seahorse begins to slowly lift into the air, honking in triumph.

"Wha…" Luffy slowly points at the seahorse, "What's that?! And...who am I?"

My eyes widen in utter terror as everyone begins to look around in pure confusion.

Zoro resurfaces and catches everyone's attention, "Hey, Mr. Drowning Guy!" Luffy calls. "Do you know who I am?"

I start to shake as I stare at my friends. I can't feel anything from them, no emotions, nothing! I can't...even feel our bond. The trust and friendship between us...it's gone.

"Pika pi…" _'You guys...no…'_ I whimper.

Luffy turns around and looks at me, "Hm? What's that thing? A rat?"

The others face me, "A rat...or a mouse?" Usopp adds.

"A talking racoon dog, a dragon, a random drowning dude, and now a yellow rat?" Sanji asks. "Just what is going on here?"

I lower my head, gritting my teeth. That look in their eyes...fear, confusion...distrust...it's almost unbearable to me! My ears twitch when I hear a familiar honking in the air.

I look up to see the seahorse floating in the air, full of memories. My friends' memories. My friends' identities. How dare that thing take them… how dare it take what makes my family themselves!

I had just gotten them back and that...that heartless abomination just took them from me again! Just like that, he took everything from them! Everything I care about! _Everything!_

I wordlessly move and quickly break into a run, my eyes hidden. I jump onto Luffy's rubber head and leap high into the air. I quickly increase my speed to further my air height until I reach the seahorse.

I grab onto it's tail and quickly climb its body until I reach its head and latch on tightly, angry tears in my eyes. "Pika pikachu!" _'Give those memories back you bastard!'_

"Ooh! The rat's riding the dragon!" Luffy exclaims. "Me next, me next!"

"That thing sure is tiny...tinier than me." Chopper comments.

The seahorse honks angrily but no memory smoke comes out of his mouth.

 _'I said...give them back!'_ I repeat, unleashing my electricity upon it, making it honk in pain.

"Whoa! Did that thing just shoot lightning?!" Usopp exclaims.

"It's a monster!" Nami whimpers. I try not to wince at their words and keep my tight grip on the seahorse. It keeps on honking, desperate tears pricking its eyes.

"I've finally become a Millennial Dragon." Chopper slowly translates. "Don't try to stop me."

I find the seahorse's eyes and lock my own eyes with them. "Pika pikachu!" _'Do you even realize what you've taken?!'_ I demand. _'Memories are one of the most precious treasures in the world! We all work hard and live life to the fullest to create them and hold them close to us!'_

I glare down at the seahorse. _'They're not some energy source that you can steal for your own gain! They make us who we are; make us stronger; remind us of what's important; give us something to fight for!'_

My tears start to prick my eyes again, dangerously close to leaking out. _'Stealing someone's memories...it's no different than stealing someone's soul!'_

I tighten my grip on the seahorse, sparks flying from my cheeks, _'I won't tell you again…'_ I warn, squeezing my eyes shut. _'GIVE ME BACK MY FRIENDS!'_

I open my eyes and see my crew all staring up at me in awe. I suddenly get that strange feeling that I did on Drum. Did they all understand me? I suddenly feel the briefest flash of warmth inside; was that from them? The seahorse honks angrily, still not relenting or giving up it's power.

I growl under my breath, "Pika…" _'If that's how it is…'_

I move onto the seahorse's inflatable body and find good footing. I press down slightly and using my own strength I leap high into the air.

I then turn to face the seahorse as I start to fly back down. White energy surrounds me as I pick up speed, and a few small bolts of lightning come into the mix as well. The seahorse honks in terror as it's unable to move with its bloated body.

"Pika pikachu!" _'Give them back!'_ I yell, _'AND LEAVE US ALONE!'_

My skull slams into the seahorse and I slam him onto a giant boulder on the river. I feel his body press down and deflate like a balloon before a giant cloud of memory smoke emerges from his mouth and envelops my friends. The seahorse shrinks down to normal, but the momentum from my attack bounces us both back up into the air a good distance.

The seahorse glances at me and I make my tail iron. With one final hard swing, I send the seahorse flying, until it's just a speck in the sky.

I grin triumphantly for a moment before realizing how high in the air I am. My friends are all dots on the ground! I start to fall back towards the ground and as I grow closer, I can tell that their memories have all been returned. The multiple waves of warmth emanating from our bonds of trust is all I need to feel to know.

"Pika pi!" _'You guys!'_ I call happily.

"Pika-chan!" Luffy exclaims and his arms stretch towards me. They grab me and safely bring me back down. "That was awesome Pika-chan!" Luffy exclaims, holding me high. "You totally kicked that dragon's ass!"

"Pikachu!" I cheer as I smile down at him and all my other friends. I can't help but feel a few tears of joy prick my eyes; my friends...my family...they're finally back to normal.

* * *

The sun was setting when we finally got back to the ship. We raised anchor right away since the islanders thought we were the ones behind their missing memories all this time. I sit on the railing, facing the island as it shrinks in the distance; good riddance.

"Thank goodness we made it…" Chopper sighs in relief, slumping against the mast.

Luffy pouts as he hangs under Merry's head by his legs, "I almost had my own bronze statue…" he mutters. "It would've been awesome…"

"I'm just glad that's all over." Usopp comments. "Losing your memory can sure cause a lot of trouble."

I flinch from my spot on the railing, and I lower my head.

"Thank goodness Pika-chan was there to set us all straight or we probably would've been goners!" Usopp continues.

"You did a damn good job partner; wait to take one for the team." Sanji says. I don't respond and I eventually feel everyone's eyes on me.

"Pika-chan?" Chopper asks softly.

"What's wrong?" Nami asks.

I still don't respond until I feel Luffy sit on the railing next to me. "We really scared you, didn't we." he says softly. It's not a question. He looks out at the ocean with me. "You know better than anyone what it's like to have no memories...and you hated seeing all of us go through the same thing."

I slightly look at him, giving the hint that he's right. How does this guy go from an oblivious moron to someone who can read me like a book in two seconds?

"You wanted to go find Nami and Zoro more than anyone, and you were super mad when you found out who took our memories or when we wanted to leave each other behind," Luffy continues. "And you were so happy when we got our memories back...because you thought you'd lost us."

I sigh and close my eyes; he hit the nail right on the head. Losing your memories is the worst feeling in the world, nothing can compare. You're all alone, in the big vast world with nothing but your emptiness. You have no friends, no family, not even a personality. When you have amnesia, all you can do is try and move on and rebuild yourself from nothing.

But the worst part is that you have no idea who you can trust; the world is full of unpredictable things, and having no identity makes you the most vulnerable and moldable thing you can think of. Without your memories, you're lost...and without a way to find them, it's more than likely that you won't ever find your way home.

"Listen up everyone!" I'm snapped out of my thoughts as Luffy picks me up onto his lap and faces the others. "Pika-chan saved our memories." Luffy puts a hand on my head and grins, "So we have to return the favor by saving Pika-chan's memories! Got it?"

Smiles slowly come to everyone's faces. "Of course we will." Sanji says.

"Yeah!" Chopper cheers, jumping up and down. "I'll do whatever I can to help!"

"I'm surprised you even asked!" Usopp adds.

"As if we'd abandon Pika-chan like that." Nami says, shaking her head. "Have a little more faith in us!"

I stare at all my friends and a smile slowly comes to my face and I relax in Luffy's grip. How could I have forgotten? I found my way home a long time ago.

* * *

"Huh? Pika-chan?" Luffy looked down to see that the mouse had gone limp quite suddenly. It's eyes were closed and it looked very peaceful.

Robin hid a laugh behind her hand, "It looks like our little friend's exhaustion finally caught up." She said. "It hasn't slept for nearly forty-eight hours because it was keeping watch for that memory thief."

Luffy smiled and hopped off the railing, holding the mouse properly in his arms. Pika-chan had a smile on its face in sleep, finally allowing itself to rest after nearly two days of worry. Luffy let out a soft laugh as he grinned down at his tiny crewmate, "You did good, Pika-chan." He said, before Sanji came up and took the mouse off his hands.

"Alright, I'll get this little bandit to bed and then I'll start on dinner; sound good?" Sanji asked.

"Yes! Food!" Luffy cheered, as happy as ever before Nami and Usopp smacked him.

"Shut up or you'll wake Pika-chan!" Usopp hissed.

"The poor thing's been through enough!" Nami agreed.

"Sorry…" Luffy pouted before walking with the others towards the galley.

Sanji headed down to the still darkened boy's room and gently lay Pika-chan down on their hammock before pulling the blanket up. The mouse still hadn't lost its peaceful smile and it nuzzled the pillow in content.

Sanji smiled and gently scratched the mouse behind the ears, "Good night, Pika-chan." He whispered, and as if on instinct, he started humming a soft tune under his breath.

 _Sleep my child and peace attend thee, all through the night._

 _Guardian angels will protect thee, all through the night._

He quietly made his way to the ladder.

 _Though the sea will ne'er encumber, gentle waves will guide your slumber._

He climbed the ladder and began to lift the door as quietly as he could.

 _I will always watch and keep thee, all through the night…_

He fully exited the boy's room, not taking his eyes off the mouse's sleeping form.

 _All through the night…_

He closed the door with as softly as possible and stood up with a sigh. It had been a while since he had heard that song; a small part of him was glad he still remembered it. Pika-chan was sleeping like a rock; and now that that fiasco was over, they could all get a good night's sleep.

He gazed around the empty deck for a moment before heading back to the galley. Thank god no one heard him, especially the moss-head; he'd never live it down.

As he entered the galley, he failed to notice the ear on his back vanish in a small flurry of petals, nor did he realize that Robin's calm smile seemed warmer than usual.

* * *

 **I APOLOGIZE IF THAT LAST BIT WAS OOC BUT I COULDN'T HELP IT PIKA-CHAN'S BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH SHIT!**

 **Alright, just ONE MORE CHAPTER before we get into Water 7. You just gotta sit through one more movie and then we'll be well on our way ;)**


	88. Mecha Island Shimagame

**I'M BACK! So sorry for the long wait you guys! My muse needed another break and the website where I normally watch my OP stuff didn't have this movie so I had to use another website and it was wonky for a while so watching this movie and narrating it was a MUCH bigger chore than it should have been.**

 **It also didn't help that I didn't particularly care for this movie. I mean, I like the whole legend and stuff they built up around it (I'll admit, I didn't see that coming) but the rest was just...bland. The villain was REALLY boring but then again, I think that was intentional. Also, maybe it's because I'm not on a One Piece kick right now, but Luffy's childlike acts are INSUFFERABLE here! Even for him! So yeah, a lot of this movie is summarized because I was just done with it. It's probably just because of my mindset right now, but this movie is just okay. Definitely not my favorite but not god-awful. Just annoying and plain.**

 **Anyway, thanks for your patience with me! Enjoy!**

* * *

I've heard of and seen all kinds treasure. Gold and jewels? Normal.

A giant crown created by geysers and sunlight? A very nice treat.

An old lady who decided to get rid of the treasure inside the chest so she could hide from pirates who kidnapped her? ...Okay, that's a new one.

Getting said treasure chest was an event in itself, involving everyone getting on a lifeboat and raiding a nearly sunken pirate ship that got wrecked by the storm we were in the middle of. Long story short, it ended with everyone (including the lifeboat) crashing back onto the Merry, courtesy of Luffy.

The storm had passed shortly after, so we got set on opening the chest. And well, that was when we met the old lady. Luffy and Usopp immediately shut the chest and nearly threw them overboard, but we ultimately decided to hear her out. That was when she told us why she was there and not the treasure, you know, the whole kidnapping thing I mentioned earlier.

We all gather in a huddle to decide what to do, between dropping her off at a nearby island or just throwing her overboard like we were going to do earlier, but with this lady jumping around all over the place scared out of her mind, making a decision isn't coming easily.

"Oh wait, you said you were looking for treasure, right?" She blurts out.

"Treasure?!" Nami leaps to her feet, hearts in her eyes; here we go.

"Why don't we make a deal?" Old Lady offers. "If you let me go, I can give you lots of treasure!" Okaaaay, offering a reward to get somewhere is always good.

Nami stares hard at her, making the lady's bravado fade. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Be more specific." Nami says. "What kind of treasure are we talking about here? You were pretty quick to make that offer, and that just reeks of suspicion." She's got a point. Nami leans towards her, "You better not be making this up; do you know what pirates do to liars?"

"This deal just turned into a threat." Usopp comments.

"Guess I'm not the scary one, after all." Zoro agrees.

"Pikachu…" I agree, my ears slightly drooping.

Old Lady jumps back, "It's not a lie, I swear!" She insists. "There's a legendary treasure spoken about on my island: The Golden Crown!"

I tilt my head, "Pika?"

"It's said that it can only be worn by the king of the seas!" Old Lady explains. "I've never seen it, no one's ever seen it; but it's supposed to be worth more than any sum of money in the world!"

Everyone except Luffy, Chopper, and Robin sigh, "Sounds like bull to me…"

"I'm not making it up!" Old Lady protests.

"A crown like that sounds really cool!" Chopper pipes up.

"Yeah, and King of the Seas has a nice ring to it!" Luffy agrees. "Not like King of the Pirates, but close enough!"

"Yeah!" Chopper says happily. "I'd really like to see it!"

"Same here! Then it's settled!"

Nami turns in horror, "Luffy!"

"Set sail, to that old lady's island!" Luffy announces, a grin on his face. Here we go again.

"Really?!" Old Lady exclaims.

"Yep! I've made up my mind!" Luffy says. "And it sounds like a lot of fun!"

"I'm also interested in this island and this legendary crown." Robin adds.

"But Luffy, not even Nami knows if that treasure exists!" Sanji points out. He's got a point; Nami knows about almost all kinds of treasure. It's rare that we find a treasure that she's never heard of.

Luffy waves his hand, "Don't worry, I'm sure it exists!"

"Just because you think it does doesn't mean it is!" Sanji grumbles.

"Sanji's right," Nami agrees. "Besides we have no way to get to it, unless this lady has an Eternal Pose."

"I don't." Old Lady chimes in.

"See?"

"You don't need one to get to my island."

"...What?"

Old Lady reaches into her robes and pulls out a round container. She opens the lid, revealing a little sea turtle floating on a small amount of water inside, over a compass design. "This is a Turtle Pose." Old Lady says. "You just have to follow the direction the turtle is facing to reach my island; Log Poses don't point to my island for some reason."

So, it's basically the same as an Eternal Pose, but with turtles. Whatever works, I guess. Luffy pokes the turtle off the compass only to have it swim right back to its original position. This kinda reminds me of the South Birds, with their heads always facing south, no matter what.

"I'm even more excited now!" Luffy cheers. "Alright, Captain's orders! Follow the Turtle Pose to the island!"

"You know this could all be for nothing, right?" Nami calls after him as he stretches up to the from of the ship.

"Who cares? We're not in a hurry to go anywhere!" Luffy says with a shrug. "And if there really is treasure, the old lady said we could have it! As pirates, we can't pass up an opportunity like this!"

Alright, whatever you say, man. I've been getting tired of having nothing to do, anyway.

* * *

It took us a couple hours to reach the island, which is apparently called Mecha Island. That...is not the kind of name I'd expect this place to have. It has tons of greenery and all the buildings are made of stone. No metal, machinery, or anything to warrant a name like Mecha.

"By the way, where should we dock?" Usopp asks.

"Anywhere is fine." Old Lady answers.

"This is a pirate ship, we can't just dock wherever we want!" Usopp points out.

"Then how about that beach there?" Old Lady suggests, pointing to a beach a good ways away from the city. Guess that'll work.

As I sit on the Merry's head with Luffy, we notice that the beach isn't exactly empty, "What's all that weird stuff on the shore?" Luffy wonders out loud.

"Pika."

"It looks like some kind of machine." Usopp comments, leaning out from the side.

"That's my son's contraption." Old Lady answers, a sad look on her face. "Ever since his father died, he's been building those silly machines, non-stop." She lowered her head, "He's always been skilled with machines, ever since he was a child; he's obsessed."

"So your son built that?" Usopp asks, as I squint and try to get a better look. There's a bunch of tall things and what looks like roller coaster tracks all over the place.

"I think it's some kind of defense system." Old Lady says.

Right as she says that, thousands of large robot dummies shoot out from the sand, facing us, wielding bows and arrows. Oh. Good. This should be fun.

Usopp leaps away from the side, "Holy crap! If they fire all those arrows at us, we're screwed!" He cries.

"We gotta do something!" Sanji agrees.

"Wait." Zoro heads towards the front of the ship, "I'll handle this."

"Welcome to Mecha Island, pirates!" A loud obnoxious voice shouts through a loudspeaker from the beach. "I don't know what you're here for, but if you think you're laying your dirty hands on our island, think again!" I cringe and cover my ears from the feedback.

"This sacred island is ruled by our leader, Ratchet! Unless you have his permission, none of you can even set foot on this island; so just head back to wherever it is you came from!" Is that supposed to be a threat? So if we don't get this leader's permission he'll be, what, disappointed in us? Oh no, terrifying.

"This is your last warning; turn back now, or a thousand arrows will be shot through you!" There you go, that's a legit threat. Go away or we'll hurt you.

Luffy stands up, frowning light, "Hey, you don't have to be so rude!" He calls back. "Just because we're pirates doesn't mean we're here to rob people! We came to bring back an old lady who lives here!" His arm stretches back and he holds Old Lady up by her hair.

The speaker is silent for a moment before they let out a yell of terror. "You damn kidnappers! She better be okay! Put her down right now!" Yeah, that's about what I expected.

"What's he yelling about?" Zoro asks.

"Dunno." Luffy shrugs before turning to Old Lady, "Just who are you, anyway?"

"Me?" Old Lady looks up at him. "Well, I'm the island's-"

"MOOOOOOOOOOOTHEEEEEEEEEEER!"

We turn to see what looks like a plane flying towards us. "Whoa, awesome!" Luffy cheers as it zooms past us. I blink and realize that Old Lady's gone; whoever's steering the plane took her. I guess that was her son? He shouted mother before swooping her up.

"That's so cool!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper proclaim, eyes glittering in excitement.

Zoro shrugs, "That thing is pretty neat." I guess so, even though it's just a big version of a toy plane by the looks of it. Hey, at least it flies.

The plane flies back to the beach and lands on a cart that's rolling across the tracks on the beach. Just then, my ears twitch as multiple clanking noises are heard and the arrow wielding robots raise their bows. Oh boy… The robots all release their arrows, and a giant wave of them come towards us.

Sanji gets everyone on the main deck to safety and Zoro joins us on Merry's head. "Alright, if it's a fight you want, I'll give it to you!" Luffy proclaims, readying his arm.

"Hold up, I got this." Zoro says, stepping forward. "Can't let you have all the fun." Luffy pouts but steps back, and I do to. Zoro takes out Wado and gets in a ready stance. "One-Sword Style...36 Pound Cannon!"

Zoro gives a hard swing, and the force behind it easily cuts through the arrows, reducing them to splintered pieces. Nice. We look back at the beach and see a figure run towards some giant lever.

"Are they gonna try again?" Luffy asks. The figure jumps on the lever and a giant metal fan emerges from the sand. Uh-oh, this could be a problem…

"I don't know what that is, but it's awesome!" Luffy cheers.

"This is getting ridiculous…" Zoro scoffs. The fan turns on, and a giant gust of wind slams right into us. Luffy, Zoro and I are thrown from the Merry's head as the air catches the sails, making the Merry move backwards. I flail and squeal as I fly through the air until Sanji reaches out and grabs my tail before pulling me towards his chest while his other arm is around Nami, keeping her safe.

"You bastard!" Usopp yells over the wind, "What about our reward?!"

"Yeah!" Nami perks up. "The old lady said we could have the Golden Crown treasure that's supposed to be here if we brought her back!"

There's a beat of silence before laughter fills the air, "You idiots were lured here by that fairy tale?!" The voice sneers. "There's nothing like that on this island; even kids know that treasure doesn't exist, I can't believe you fell for that!"

"I didn't fall for it!" Nami yells, bright red. Probably getting war flashbacks to Jaya.

The fan continues to blow, making me shut my eyes; for the love of Tornadus, have mercy! But it turns out the fan was a little too strong. A bunch of the robots behind it were eventually sucked into the fan, making it stop, but the pieces were shot towards us like a shower of bullets, ripping our sails and denting the wood. Luckily, after that, nothing more came. Good, I think Merry's had enough abuse for one day.

"Everyone alright?" Sanji calls.

"Pika." I chirp, still being held by him and everyone else lets out a grunt of confirmation.

"What a pain...we try to bring an old lady back and we get treated like enemies." Zoro grumbles. "Let's get back there, Nami!"

"As much as I want to, our sails are totally shredded." Nami points out. "But we can still raise the back sail in order to get somewhere to drop anchor."

"Whaaat? We haven't landed yet?" Luffy whines, popping from the rubble he was buried under. "C'mon guys, let's hurry...and…"

He trails off as he sees Nami's face. Oh man...Mom is _not_ happy… I cringe and smartly hide behind Sanji's legs, only daring to peek out.

"Luffy…" Nami growls, a dangerous smile on her face, making Luffy shrink back. "I warned you that we were being tricked, didn't I?" She leans towards him, "But did you listen? No. And now look what you got us into. Are you happy?"

"B-But the treasure's rea-"

Nami stretches his jaw, stopping his protests, "There's no proof!" She snaps. "Didn't you hear those punks on the beach? It's not real!"

"Yes it is!" Luffy responds. "That old lady said it was real so it has to be real!" Oh this boy's mindset...it hurts me sometimes…

"She lied to us!" Nami yells. "There is no treasure!"

"I wouldn't say that." Robin climbs down from the Crow's Nest. "I don't have any proof that the treasure exists, but I don't think the old lady or that man were necessarily lying."

Robin walks down to the main deck. "The old lady told us about it because she wanted us to spare her life; lying is a risky gamble when your life is at stake, especially about something like treasure."

"What are you saying?" Sanji asks.

"That the treasure is somewhere on this island, and the islanders are probably hiding the location from us." Robin answers. "But I think that swaying sea song may hold the key we need." That makes sense; maybe those guys want to find it before we do, or the treasure is dangerous and can't fall into the wrong hands.

"Um…" Chopper pipes up, "Not to change the subject, but...there's something weird about this island."

"Pi?" I tilt my head.

"Weird how?" Nami asks.

"I don't know…" Chopper admits, a bit sheepishly.

"Do you smell something?" Luffy asks. "Is it food?"

"No, it's more like a voice." Chopper answers before shrugging, "It's probably nothing."

I frown and leap onto the side of the ship, gazing at the island. I try to focus, but I can't get anything. Well, my instincts and Chopper's animal instincts have always been pretty different. Maybe it's the treasure that Chopper's feeling. I guess we'll find out.

* * *

That night after dinner, I sit with Nami and Robin on the railing. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper are goofing off, Sanji's making Robin some coffee, and Zoro's napping.

"So, that song," Nami was saying to Robin. "The old lady said that was her proof of the treasure as well, so it would make sense if it had a hint or something." She looks at Robin, "Do you remember it? It was in some weird language…"

"I wrote it down," Robin answers, pulling a piece of paper out of her shirt, "And I translated it, too."

Nami grins, "That's my girl!" She takes the paper and I leap on her shoulder to read with her.

 _'Swaying, swaying, swaying left and right, the King of Seas' Golden Crown glistens in the light._

 _With white snake eyes, two moons, and the black wind feeling light._

 _Swaying, swaying, swaying left and right, the King of Seas' Golden Crown glistens in the light.'_

Huh...not really seeing any hints here. "We can assume that the Golden Crown refers to the treasure," Robin says. "So the other parts must be riddles or clues."

You mean the white snake, two moons, and black wind stuff? I take the paper and look over the words while Nami shuts Luffy, Usopp and Chopper up (they were getting too rowdy). I'm not seeing anything, but they must mean something symbolic or metaphorical.

Luffy flops over the railing backwards and Sanji brings Robin her coffee, earning a shock from me in the process; lose the heart eyes, man!

"A white snake…" Luffy mutters, catching our attention. I go over to Luffy as he sits up and points towards the island, specifically near the mountain. I look hard and my eyes widen; there's a rock formation that looks like a snake, covered in white snow! That's it! That's our snake!

"Holy crap, he's right!" Nami exclaims. "It's really that simple? There's no way!" Well, maybe the rest of the hints can be hard.

"And I found it!" Luffy proclaims proudly. I smile and decide to give him a high five; finding clues no one else can see is a good feeling.

"So what's the next hint?" Zoro asks.

"Two moons." Robin answers. That's the one that's stumping me the most.

"Maybe it means two months." Chopper offers. "Maybe we have to wait by the snake for two months."

"Two months starting when?" Nami points out.

"What about the reflection of the moon?" Usopp tries. "Maybe the real moon and the reflection have to do with the snake's eyes."

"Yeah, but how?" Nami points out again. Usopp looks ready to explains but then deflates in defeat; yeah, this may be harder than it seems.

We spend a while trying to brainstorm an answer, while Usopp and Luffy have a contest to see who can throw the farthest. Usopp's winning, so far.

Finally, Luffy gets fed up, "Screw this! Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy's fist stretches through the air and smashes one of the snake's eyes.

"I guess it's a tie." Usopp admits in defeat.

"What? No way!" Luffy protests.

My ears twitch and I look back at the snake; the whole head is starting to crack! Robin notices too, "Luffy, could you hit the snake's other eye, just like that?" She asks.

"Yeah, but why?" Luffy asks.

"The riddle probably doesn't mean two moons." Robin says. "The word for moons could also be read as thrust or jab in this language." Wow, really? That could explain why the songwriter wrote it that way; to throw people off the scent.

Luffy shrugs, "I don't get it, but sure, I'll hit it again!" Luffy does just that and the land around the snake's mouth completely crumbles away, revealing an opening. We did it! That's two riddles down!

We start to move the ship towards the cave, when we're stopped by some weird guy with a blue mohawk in a lifeboat. We recognize his voice as that obnoxious guy who yelled at us over the loudspeaker and says he just wants to talk to us.

The next thing I know, we're taken to this weird ballroom, complete with food, drinks, and dresses for the girls to wear. But the really weird part? All the maids are robots! Really lifelike robots if you can get past their dead unblinking eyes. Also, according to this butler (who's actually human) they're apparently not completely finished, so they keep falling apart. Poor Chopper nearly had a heart attack when one of their heads fell off in front of him.

After a while, a section of the walls open, and a few puppets emerge, playing musical instruments, while the lights dim and begin flashing colors like a rave. "Welcome, pirates!" A voice announces, making us all turn. A large door opens, making steam pour out and a giant mechanical turtle thing slowly walks out of it.

A throne sits on its back, seating a man with blonde hair, wearing strange overalls and big round glasses. "Good evening!" He greets, his glasses glistening. "Are you enjoying yourselves-ah!" He shrinks back as Luffy, Usopp and Chopper leap onto the turtle, their eyes shining with excitement.

"This thing is the coolest!" Luffy gushes. "How do you control it? Can we try-"

A large man, that looks a lot like a gorilla with an afro suddenly appears and throws Luffy, Usopp and Chopper off. "You may be guests, but you should show some respect!" He snaps.

Glasses Guy waves his hand, "Now now, it's alright, no harm done." He says. "My apologies, this is Colonel Honkey, my most loyal follower; he can be a bit protective." He then gestures to Luffy, Usopp and Chopper, "Could you three please move a bit?"

They do so, and Honkey flips a switch on the machine. A giant key on the rear starts to turn, and the robot does too, impressing Luffy and Usopp once again. "This is Elephant Tortoise Mecha No. 5; I made it myself." Glasses Guy says. "My name is Ratchet; I'm the leader of this island."

So this guy is Ratchet...never expected him to be a nerd.

"Not only that, but he's a famous inventor!" The guy with the blue mohawk adds. "I am General Maji and you will address him as Doctor Ratchet!"

"Cool! So you're some kind of genius guy?" Luffy exclaims. "And you made that thing?!"

I can practically feel Ratchet's ego inflate as he smiles, "I did." He says. "But this is just a small trinket; my real talent lies in- are you even listening?!" Luffy and Usopp had gone back to eating.

"Well, I'm Monkey D. Luffy, nice to meet you!" Luffy responds with his mouth full.

"Enough introductions," Nami cuts in. "Let's get down to business. You turned us away earlier, and now you're treating us with all this? What's going on?" Leave it to Nami to get straight to the point.

"Ah yes, I'm very sorry about that." Ratchet says, without any fuss. "I thought you were holding my mother hostage, so I panicked; it was quite humiliating and impulsive on my part and I'm truly sorry."

My ears droop; this sounds a little too sappy to be sincere. Something's up. "It's no problem." Luffy responds. "We're pirates; we're used to it."

"I'm glad to hear that." Ratchet says. "Now let's get to the next item on the agenda; how much of the riddle have you solved?" My ears twitch; I knew it. They're after the treasure too! They must've seen us solve the two moons part of the song!

Nami nods, probably expecting that response, "Well, to be honest, we're at a loss." Well, she's not wrong.

"What?!" Ratchet catches himself, "I mean, that can't be true." Yeah, not suspicious at all, dude.

"Sorry, but it is." Nami says, shaking her head. "It's a real tough puzzle; we're considering just giving up and leaving."

"But you figured out a good amount of the riddle so quickly!" Ratchet protests.

"Not really; it was just dumb luck thanks to our Captain." Nami says, glancing at Luffy, who's still stuffing his face.

Ratchet starts, "Wait, he's the Captain?!"

Nami nods, "Yep; Monkey D. Luffy, with a 100 million berry bounty." Ratchet, Honkey, and Maji all flinch at stare at Luffy in astonishment.

"I know it's hard to believe, but there's no point in trying to force information out of us." Nami goes on. "Thanks for this dinner, but we're not going to risk our lives looking for a treasure that probably doesn't exist." She turns to go, "We'll be out of here by morning."

"Wait!" Ratchet calls desperately. "I'm not trying to trick you or anything; I'm offering to join forces!"

Nami grins and looks back slightly towards him, "Oh really?"

"Yes; you're way of thinking may be just what we need to solve this riddle once and for all!" Ratchet says. "We'll find the treasure together and split the riches."

"Interesting." Nami purrs. "Cause we were told this morning that the treasure didn't exist."

Maji flinches and Ratchet smiles, "It does exist, and it's been spoken of by our people for generations." He says. "I apologize for my subordinate's rudeness this afternoon; we had been stuck on the riddle for a long time and were getting impatient." I frown slightly as little windshield wipers pop out of his glasses and wipe them clean; nerd.

"So, what do you say?" Ratchet asks, when another set of doors open, revealing the old lady.

"Ratchet!" She exclaims angrily. "I won't allow you to drag more innocent people into this mess!"

"Mother?!" Ratchet exclaims and quickly reaches for a keypad.

"Just what are you up too?!" Old Lady demands, starting towards us. "This has gone on long enou-AAHH!"

I blink as a trapdoor suddenly opens beneath her, causing her to fall out of sight. Well, didn't see that coming.

"What's wrong with you?!" Nami demands. "That was your mother!"

"I hope she's alright." Robin muses.

"Don't worry, she's fine." Ratchet says casually. "Now, what's your answer?"

"Are you serious?!" Nami exclaims. Wow, and here I thought he actually cared for her.

"Sure thing!" Luffy answers. "We can team up!"

"Luffy!" Nami yells.

"Don't worry, he said we could split the treasure; it'll be fine." Luffy says. I swear, one day this kid is gonna get us into a deal that ends us all.

"So is that a yes?" Ratchet asks.

Luffy nods, "I've made up my mind!"

Ratchet leaps off his robot and holds out a piece of paper to Luffy, "Just sign here, if you please."

"Hey hey hey!" Nami yells. "No contracts; let me see that!"

"Ratchet, that's enough!" Nami shrieks as Old Lady suddenly drops down from a pole in the ceiling. Ratchet swiftly pulls out a controller and pushes a button, sending the pole and Old Lady into a secret door on the wall.

"You don't get along well with your mom, do you?" Luffy asks.

Ratchet chuckles, "Let's just say it's our way of showing affection." Wow, we got a real happy family right here. "So, we have deal, Luffy?" Ratchet holds out his hand.

"Sure do, Four-Eyes!" Luffy responds, grasping his hand.

"Four Eyes?!" Ratchet exclaims.

"Luffy! You moron!" Nami yells. I sigh; can't wait to see what these flaming hoops have in store for us.

* * *

The next morning, we make our way to the cave using a weird wind-up boat that Ratchet made, involving a giant rubber strap making a propeller spin. I sit on the head of the boat and glance around while Luffy stands behind me, singing his own rendition of that swaying song obnoxiously loud. We must be under the mountain or something cause this place is enormous!

Just then, Chopper's ears twitch, "What's that sound?" He wonders.

"Are you hearing that voice again?" Sanji asks; oh yeah, Chopper's been hearing that voice ever since we got here.

"No...it sounds more like wind." Chopper answers.

I shudder as my ears twitch as well, "Pika pika!" I chime in confirmation; he's right, I feel a cool breeze from somewhere ahead.

"Luffy, stop singing for a second!" Nami calls, and Luffy stops. The boat sails on through the silent cave, all of us on the lookout.

"Could it be the so-called black wind from the song?" Robin wonders.

"It could be." Ratchet muses.

"What about the feeling light part?" Maji asks.

"It could be something about getting lighter in weight." Sanji offers.

"The current is getting stronger." Nami says softly as the water seems to get more rapid around us.

Something comes into view up ahead and I point, "Pika!"

Luffy raises the lantern and we find ourselves sailing down a path lined with sunken ships. That's never a good sign. Chopper clings to Zoro in fear and Luffy grins, "Now this is getting interesting!"

I ignore the ships and keep my gaze focused on the path ahead; if Skypiea has taught me anything, it's that being in a place with tons of sunken ships means that there are traps nearby. The current gets faster, pushing us along roughly and I see something up ahead once again.

I squint to get a better look and my ears droop in fear, "Pika! Pikachu!" I cry, pointing ahead. There's a huge wall up ahead and one narrow passage leading through it! There are tons of crashed boats around the opening; with the current pushing us this fast, we need to time it just right if we want to make it!

"How are we supposed to get through that?!" Usopp exclaims.

"Use the Impact Dial." Sanji says causally.

"We need to break the wall, not me!" Usopp retorts.

"Hold on!" Luffy leaps over Usopp and breaks the rubber strap off the boat. "Gum Gum…" He twists his arms multiple times and grabs into the propeller. "Rubber Power!"

The boat shoots forward like a rocket, causing me to fly backwards. Robin grabs me and keeps me close as we shoot right towards the wall and right through the opening. Wood on the side is completely sheared off by the rocks as he somehow make it through and Luffy's arms detach.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Usopp demands, his knees still shaking; poor Chopper went into Fur Point and is suffocating Zoro.

"I figured we just had to go faster to get through!" Luffy chirps.

"W-Well at least warn us next time!" Usopp yells, as Chopper returns to normal, letting Zoro breathe.

I sigh in relief, nodding my thanks to Robin before my ears twitch again. Chopper look ahead, so I know he feels it too; the wind is getting stronger. I can also hear more rushing water, but it sounds louder than a regular current. I hurry back to the front of the boat and look ahead...to see that we're heading straight for an opening where the water disappeared. This isn't good.

"Pika pi…?" _'Uh, guys…?'_ I say weakly, pointing ahead. Everyone looks ahead and catches on; we all scream as we sail right over the waterfall and begin to fall. I cling to the front of the boat while Luffy flies above us.

"Luffy! Inflate yourself!" Sanji calls.

"Okay!" Luffy sucks in and creates the Gum Gum Balloon. Sanji then leaps into the air above Luffy, and kicks him down. Luffy passes the boat and lands in the water, just in time to cushion our fall and send us forward.

"Luffy!" Zoro yells, holding out his hand. Luffy stretches out and grabs it, and Sanji grabs onto Luffy just in time to hitch a ride. The boat flies through the water and onto land, skidding to a stop, and leaving the boat in ruins. Whew; made it!

"Is everyone alright?" Ratchet calls, and we all make affirmative noises. I start to wander around, looking at the giant cavern around us; where are we now?

"Is the Golden Crown really down here?" Nami wonders.

I ignore the others and continue wandering when my paws touch something soft. I look down to see the beginnings of grass under me. I look ahead seeing a path climbing a hill that continuously gets more grassy as it goes; this is interesting. The only way grass could grow all the way down here is if there was sunlight, and…

I squint and see a dim light up at the top of the hill. I scamper up the path until I reach the top only to have my breath taken away. There's a giant clearing with a giant blue pond in the middle. The sun is shining down upon it, making it sparkle, and soft green grass covers the ground. There are also a bunch of animal statues of all different sizes, all surrounding the pond like they're drinking the water.

A huge smile grows on my face and I turn back towards the others, waving. "Pika pi! Pika pikachu!" _'Guys! Get up here, I found something!'_

Luffy lights up, "Pika-chan found something!"

I move to get closer to the pond and the others slowly climb up after me, to get just as surprised as me. "Wow! Amazing!" Chopper gushes.

"Pika-chan always finds the coolest things!" Luffy agrees, making me rub the back of my head sheepishly.

"Did you guys know about this?" Nami asks Ratchet.

"No, we've never been here before." Ratchet answers. "This is quite a landmark we've stumbled across. The treasure could be around here."

"You're right." Nami nods. We all start to look around and I find myself spotting Robin, wandering around some of the broken stones near the animals. She stops suddenly and I wander over to her as she runs her hand over the stone; there are symbols on it!

I leap onto her shoulder to get a better look as she calls everyone over. "Did you find something?" Luffy asks.

"We can rely on you for anything!" Nami cheers.

Robin silently looks over the runes and pulls out her notebook, flipping through the pages probably to help her translate the symbols. After a few moments, she looks up, "It's the song."

"The swaying song?" Ratchet asks.

"Yes; apparently there are more lyrics, all listed right here." Robin explains.

"There's more?" Usopp asks. "What does it say?"

"A blue jug of water shining bright; when it has been drunk dry, upon the green forest, lightning will strike. Swaying, swaying, swaying left and right, the King of Seas' Golden Crown glistens in the light."

Robin recites. Well, that's not as hard as the previous part of the song.

"Pika?" I point to the pond and Usopp nods, "Yeah, could the blue jug of water be the pond?"

"That makes sense." Sanji admits. "But what about the drink it dry part?"

"Well, that's obvious," Ratchet chuckles. "We have to drink the water." Uh...what? "If we all drink together, it should be easy."

"No way." Nami says flatly.

"Are you an idiot?" Sanji retorts.

"I think he is." Usopp agrees.

"Pika." I nod; there's no way that's the answer.

Ratchet seems pretty shocked by our reaction but Luffy runs up to him happily, "You're so smart Four Eyes!" He gushes, inflating his ego once again. "C'mon Chopper; let's drink that water!"

"Yeah!" Oh this oughta be good… Luffy and Chopper stick their faces into the pond and begin drinking; a few seconds later, they fall onto their backs, completely full of water.

"We can't do it!" They whine. Well, what did you think was gonna happen?

"You see?" Ratchet exclaims, "If all of us drink together, we can-"

"Shut your mouth or I'll do it for you." Nami says dangerously. Yeah, I'm with her on this; we're not drinking all that water!

"Heeeey! Namiiiiii!" Luffy calls from somewhere. We all look up to see that Luffy is jumping up and down on the head of a giant ibis statue. "I thought I'd find something up here! You should come too! It's fun!" Luffy calls.

"Oh, I see now." Robin says suddenly, catching our attention. "I should probably mention that 'blue jug of water' can also be read as 'blue ibis of water".

We all gape in shock. You have got to be kidding me! What is it with this language and all these multiple translations! How is anyone supposed to learn this language?!

"I'm so sick of this…" Nami whines.

"So what do we do about the bird?" Zoro asks.

"We'll deal with it later." Nami grumbles. "Luffy! Get your ass down here, now!"

Luffy starts, making his foot slip on the smooth stone. He starts to fall and grabs onto the statue, but thanks to the extra weight from the water, the legs of the statue begin to crack.

"Luffy!" The statue falls and the head and Luffy fall into the pond with a huge splash. Water floods the area in a huge torrent; Zoro leaps into the water after Luffy and I spring into action.

I grab Chopper and manage to latch onto a boulder while Sanji makes sure the girls are okay. We run to the edge of the pond and find that it's quickly draining; luckily, Zoro has Luffy safely on a boulder. Oh I get it; the ibis is drinking the water dry!

Ratchet chuckles, "This riddle is solving itself!"

"What do you mean?" Nami asks. "Once all the water has drained, the green forest from the song should be at the bottom; simple." Ratchet explains. We watch the water and it drains revealing….nothing.

"Wha...impossible!" Ratchet exclaims. "Why isn't it there?!"

"You really thought there would be a forest at the bottom of this?" Nami asks flatly. You know, for a genius, this guy's a real idiot. We all climb down to the bottom of the pond and look around, but there's nothing that looks like a green forest.

Luffy starts running around in excitement when Robin speaks up, "Captain?"

"Huh?" Luffy looks at her and trips on a rock, sending right into a wall where he gets stuck in a crack.

"Are you alright?" Robin asks.

"I'm fine!" Luffy calls from inside the wall, "What is it?"

I look at Robin and realize she's standing before some kind of staircase. "If you don't mind, I'd like to investigate this passage." She says.

"Sure, go ahead." Luffy says casually.

"Luffy, can I go too?" Chopper speaks up.

"Sure." Luffy responds again. "Sanji, you go with them too."

"Sure." Sanji says, before wiggling over to Robin; you better behave yourself. I watch as they disappear through the staircase and continue looking around.

"Zoroooo!" Luffy whines. "Help meeeee…"

Zoro sighs and goes over to him, unsheathing Wado. A few swift slashes later, the wall around Luffy crumbles. "Thanks!" Luffy chirps, popping out of the rubble.

Zoro nods when something catches his eye. We all look to see what looks like a harpoon sticking out of the rubble, and it's a light shade of green.

"A green harpoon?"

"Don't tell me…the word forest can also mean harpoon in this wacky language?" Nami asks weakly. Guess so; I officially hate treasure hunts that involve riddles.

"The next part of the song says that lightning will strike." Ratchet says. "But where can we get lightning?"

I grin; my time to shine. I move towards the harpoon and stand at the ready, "Pika!"

"Go for it, Pika-chan!" Luffy cheers. I grin and hit the harpoon dead on with a full lightning attack.

"Amazing!" Ratchet exclaims. My lightning fades, but the harpoon lights up brightly. Green colors flash along the cracks in an instant...but nothing happens. "They've done it…" Ratchet breathes, a crazy look in his eye. Just then, the whole place starts to shake.

Green energy shoots out from around the pond, and the next thing we know, the rocks and rubble from above start to rain down on us. We all scream and run for cover, Nami hugging me close as we cower behind a large boulder with Luffy and Usopp. The rocks and shaking eventually stop and we glance around.

"You guys okay?" Luffy exclaims.

"Y-Yeah...somehow…" Nami squeaks.

"Pika..."

Usopp's passed out, Zoro's nowhere to be found, but he's probably fine. Ratchet and his crew are gone too. We peek out from behind the boulder just in time to see something huge rise out of the island. A pair of huge eyes open on the object making our jaws drop.

It's a head...more specifically...a giant turtle head! Wait...if we can see the back of the turtle head from here...then that means...the island is its shell?!

"A turtle?!" Nami shrieks.

"Holy crap, it's huge!" Luffy exclaims. "Wait! Does this mean this island was a turtle the whole time?!"

"Pikaaaaa!" I cry, tugging my ears in shock; this is insane! This explains why Chopper was hearing voices! I bet you anything, he was hearing the turtle!

We hear a laugh and we turn to see Ratchet emerge from another pile of rubble along with Honky. Zoro also emerges from another area, slicing the boulder on top of him; why does he look less beaten up than Ratchet?

"You okay?" Nami calls to him.

"Of course I am," Zoro turns, "It takes more than-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" He yells as he spots the turtle.

"The island is a huge turtle." Nami answers.

"This is great!" Luffy suddenly exclaims. "I bet this turtle is gonna lead us to the Golden Crown!" My ears droop; where the hell did you get that idea?

Nami shakes her head and turns to Ratchet, "Alright, care to explain just what the hell is going on?"

Ratchet grins, "Well, since you helped me, I guess I can tell you." I sit on the ground; I can't wait to hear this.

Ratchet explains that this turtle's name is Shimagame and the islanders have lived in harmony on her shell for centuries. Every one thousand years, the islanders have to wake her up in order to lay her eggs. It's a tradition passed down to only the men in Ratchet's family through the swaying song.

"So all that stuff about treasure was a load of crap." Nami states.

"Not necessarily," Ratchet shrugs. "No one really knows about the Golden Crown, so that remains a mystery; it could still exist."

Nami scoffs, "Please; you just wanted us to help you wake this turtle, and tricked us into helping with the treasure story. You've got some nerve, tricking us like that."

"Well, that's really your fault," Ratchet says, ignoring Usopp as he just woke up and saw the turtle. "You should have known I was deceiving you." I roll my eyes; not all pirates are master manipulators, you jerk.

Nami shakes her head, "Whatever; just what exactly are you after?" She asks. "You want to do more than just wake this turtle, right?"

Ratchet chuckles, "That is correct."

"I bet he wants to hog all the treasure!" Luffy blurts out.

"Wha-no!" Ratchet exclaims. "There is no treasure; it's not even mentioned anywhere in those ruins."

"Uh, I have a question!" Usopp calls, meekly raising his hand.

"Yes?" Ratchet asks.

"You're technically a bad guy now, right?" Usopp asks.

"Yes, I am. Duh." Ratchet answers. I give Usopp a look; did he want to make sure or something?

"The treasure does exist!" Luffy says loudly. "The Golden Crown is real, and this turtle is gonna bring us to it!"

"You moron!" Ratchet snaps. "There's no proof that it exists!"

"Who cares about proof?" Luffy retorts. "The old lady said it exists, and I believe it exists, so it exists!" I sigh softly; I'm used to Luffy's childlike demeanor, but this is really pushing it, even for him.

Ratchet scoffs, "Believe whatever you want; it doesn't matter know, because this turtle is now working for me." He grins widely, "At long last I will achieve my dream...of world domination."

There's a beat of silence before we all wilt, "Are you an idiot?" Everyone says.

"Pikaaaa…" I sigh, just about falling over; that dream is so dumb that it almost hurts coming from him.

"Do you honestly think the world is just gonna bow to you because you have a giant turtle?" Nami asks.

"Yeah, that's really dumb." Luffy chimes in.

"I'm getting so sick of this guy's crap…" Zoro mutters.

"You can say that again." Usopp agrees.

"Shut up!" Ratchet yells, his face red, "I'll make you regret mocking me!"

"Yeah yeah," Nami waves her hand. "But let me ask you this; how exactly do you plan to control this turtle?"

Ratchet smiles, "Don't worry, I've thought of everything." He says. "Now, I have no more use for you; I had planned to let you go but you'll just get in my way if I let you live."

"If you wanted to fight, you should've just said so." Zoro remarks, getting his swords ready.

"Please; I know I have no chance against you," Ratchet says. "Now all of you just stay put."

Just then, Ratchet's plane comes flying down towards us, Maji at the helm. It sweeps over us and grabs Ratchet and Honky just before a bunch of bombs are dropped around us. Nami and Usopp shriek and I move to the middle of all of them.

"Pikachu!" I yell, gesturing for everyone to come to me.

Nami's eyes light up as she figures out what I mean to do. "Guys, c'mon!" she yells. "Get close to Pika-chan!"

Usopp complies and Zoro does too. Nami grabs Luffy's arm and yanks him towards me, so everyone is near. I immediately leap into action and expand my energy. My eyes glow and a cube of light appears around us just as the bombs explode. The cube ends up pretty small since I had little time, but everyone's inside it so that's what matters.

The explosion didn't hurt too bad, it just felt like something nudged me. "That was too close…" Zoro mutters. I wait a few minutes to make sure nothing else happens and I let down my shield.

"What a creep...trying to blow us up…" Nami mutters.

Luffy laughs and roughly pats my head, "That shield of yours is awesome!" We climb out of the rubble when my ears twitch; I hear something.

"Hey...do you guys hear that?" Usopp asks.

"It sounds like a machine." Nami says. We all look down seeing some kind of castle a few miles down from where we are, and the ground around it starts to expand. We watch as giant metal arms emerge from the ground and lift the castle clear off its foundation. We all stare as the castle starts to move; I gotta say, even for the Grand Line, that's a new one.

"Nami! Pika-chan!"

My ears twitch at Sanji's voice. We turn to see Sanji, Robin and Chopper running down the hill towards us.

"Are you guys alright?" Chopper calls.

"We're fine!" Luffy responds.

"We saw a glider go to that castle; is Ratchet behind this?" Robin asks.

"Yeah! He tried to blow us up!" Usopp cries.

"What the hell is that guy up to?" Sanji asks.

"World domination." Nami answers.

Sanji sweatdrops, "You can't be serious…" Nami shakes her head, "Yep; and he's serious about it too."

"Pika…" I shake my head; I still can't believe he wants to do that.

We all run down the hill towards the castle and bust down the door no problem. Luffy steps in and takes a deep breath, "Where are you Four-Eyes!" He yells. "We won't let you take the treasure!" We all roll our eyes; he's still on about that?

Zoro steps in next to Luffy, "This guy isn't the type to show his face." He says.

"Well he better get ready then," Sanji says, stepping in as well on Luffy's other side, "cause I'm gonna beat some sense into him."

"Pika!" I agree with a nod.

"Go get 'em, guys!" Usopp cheers, peeking in from the doorway.

"Right!" Luffy punches the air, "Let's go!" Luffy, Zoro and Sanji take off and I follow.

"Wait, we need a plan!" Nami calls after them.

"Pika pikachu!" I call back to her _'Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them!'_

We run and turn a corner, Luffy shouting for Ratchet all the while, when I hear something near us. Just then Luffy lets out a scream, followed by Zoro and Sanji. I skid to a halt just in time as a ramp opened in the floor right in front of them, causing them to slide down. Well, so much for keeping an eye on them.

I back away just in case and the ramp closes up. Guess now I have to find them. But this castle is huge! Well, maybe I'll find something useful along the way. I take off and begin running through the halls and gear-filled rooms of the castle.

I run for a long time and it isn't long before I hear banging coming from inside; guess the others got out of wherever that trapdoor led them. I keep running until I find some stairs; I'm guessing that up is where I need to go.

I suddenly stop as the castle starts to shake. I find a window in the stairwell and peek out just in time to see hundreds of weird metal tentacles emerge from the top of the castle. They spread across the island and into the water before they pull taught. And then the island starts to move.

I squint as I realize that I can see one of Shimagame's flippers in the ocean, and a bunch of those tentacles are wrapped around it! This bastard is controlling Shimagame against her will! He's turning her into his own personal ship!

I grit my teeth and leap down from the window; I have to find this creep and find a way to stop this thing and fast! I keep climbing the stairs and combing the hallways, glancing out the window every now and then. I swear at one point I see Nami flying by in a runaway mine cart and I see Usopp and Chopper running along the ground at another point in time.

I guess that means Zoro's lost and Sanji and Robin are inside the castle still. Arceus only knows where Luffy is; but I've been hearing a lot of banging, so maybe he's found something to fight.

I continue on my trek until I find a metal door. I give the control panel a quick shock, overloading it and allowing it to open, and I find myself in a huge room. Controls just about cover the room and there's a small one above them all; guess that's Ratchet's post. There's also a big compass resembling a Turtle Pose in the middle of the room, and it overlooks the front of the island, including Shimagame's head. Looks like I just found the main control hub; so maybe the key to saving Shimagame is in here!

I give the room a quick run through; nobody's here, just a bunch of robots. I'm alone. Okay, now to free this poor turtle. I jump onto the controls and rub my paws together; if Four Eyes can do it, how hard can it be?

"Pikachu..." _'Alright, let's see what happens when I do this.'_ I push a random button.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the stairwell, another trap door opened, causing Sanji and Robin to fall outside the tower and right into Nami's minecart.

* * *

I scratch my head. I was expecting something to happen. "Pika pi…" _'Well, that did nothing. Let's see what happens when I do this.'_ I pull a random lever.

* * *

The ground opened, allowing another set of tracks to appear right in front of the cart holding Nami, Sanji, and Robin. The three held on tight as they picked up speed once again and went down towards the ground where Usopp and Chopper were standing, only to be slammed by the cart, bringing them along for the ride.

* * *

"Pikaaaaa!" _'C'mon, one of these has to do something!'_ I push a sequence of buttons and pull another lever.

* * *

More and more tracks emerged from the ground, keeping the cart moving at a constant speed until they found themselves enroute back towards the castle. And that also happened to be the same stretch of track where Zoro was wandering around, trying to find his way to the ground.

* * *

I pull one more lever and push another button. "Pikachu!" _'C'mon, you stupid machine; give me something!'_ I press a bunch more buttons and flip a few switches. These have to do something!

* * *

The tracks finally came to an end, leading them right to a large ramp. They all screamed as the cart flew through the air, landing hard on the ground, where Luffy was standing over a large broken mecha and a defeated Ratchet. "Oh hey guys." He greets. "When did you guys get here?"

* * *

I finally sigh in defeat; randomly slapping buttons isn't getting me anywhere. There has to be something that can stop this; maybe if I find a button that looks big and important…

A flash of red catches my eye and I see a decent sized red button. That's more like it! I reach and press it. Nothing happens. My smile fades and I push the button again. Nothing. I press it again and again but still nothing.

"Pika!" _'Oh c'mon!'_ I exclaim, rapidly pressing the button multiple times.

 **"Steering claws are currently deployed."** A random female voice says from nowhere. Was that some sort of intercom for this thing? So I guess this button is what made those tentacle things come out in the first place? Then how do I reverse it?

I wander around to the other control panels, moving the robot maids away as I do, but none of the buttons do anything! I'm starting to think that this guy just gave himself a bunch of pointless buttons to push so he'd feel important. He's such a wimpy baby, I wouldn't put it past him.

I make my way back to the main control panel and look out the main window to see light up ahead. The light steadily gets closer and I pale as I realize that those lights belong to houses. We're heading straight for an island! If Shimagame doesn't stop, she'll plow right through it!

I tug my ears and immediately begin to panic. _'Nonononono okay, stop! Stop!'_ I slap multiple buttons and pull random levers but the turtle doesn't stop! _'Crap, c'mon, just stop! Stop! Stop!'_ The island grows ever closer as I move further onto the control panel, allowing my feet to press different buttons as I move.

 _'Stop! Why won't you stop?! Stop!'_ A flash of red catches my eye and I see a big red button rise up in the middle of the room behind the big Turtle Pose. It's ten times bigger than the other one!

Without thinking, I bolt over to it and leap up. _'Everyone, just STOP!'_

I slam the button with both my paws. Everything suddenly jerks hard, throwing me off the button, making me roll across the floor and slam into the wall. I rub my head, grunting in pain as something big falls on my head; that was unpleasant. And what the heck fell on me? I take the object off my head revealing...a book?

 **'Shimagame Mecha Soldier: Instruction and Mechanical Guide - All the Information you need for World Domination!'**

I sweatdrop at the title. That guy seriously made an instruction manual for his own machine? Arceus, he's such a nerd! And it would've been nice to know about this ten minutes ago! Speaking of which…

I jump onto one of the control panels, the robot girls having all fallen over from the sudden jerk and I'm greeted to the island. It's right in front of us and the turtle's not moving. _'Yes!'_ I cheer, jumping and punching the air.

Well, now that everything has calmed down, maybe now I can actually figure out how to disarm this thing. I jump off the control panel and open the manual to the table of contents. Thank Arceus that I spent so much time helping Robin read for research. I drag my paw down the page until I find the chapter I need: Steering Claw Function.

I flip to the page, skim through the boring stuff until I finally spot the steps I need. I quickly memorize the combination of buttons, levers, and switches needed and nod; this should be easy! I run back to the main control panel and jump up onto it.

 _'Alright, let's take this from the top.'_ I say before pulling a lever and flipping a multitude of switches, remembering the order from the book. I then press the right buttons in the right order before pulling one more lever. _'Don't worry Shimagame, you'll be free soon.'_

The smaller red button begins to blink and I press it before taking out the key. I throw the key away and watch as the tentacles slowly begin to move and slowly retract away from the turtle and back towards the tower. How about that Four Eyes? Your stupid Mecha Soldier got hacked by a mouse! Eat your heart out, nerd!

My eyes fall back on the book and I can't help but flip back through it; I wonder if this thing has a- yep! It has a Self-Destruct sequence! Ratchet really should keep these things hidden better. Oh, but I should probably warn the others before I do anything.

I go up to the main window and activate Brick Break. The glass shatters and I peek out, careful to not push any buttons; I don't want to risk starting Shimagame up again.

I see my friends as well as Ratchet, his mom, and his gang down below and I wave, "PIKA PI!" I call.

"Heeeeeeey Pika-chaaaaaaaan!" Luffy greets, his voice soft from how high up I am. I grin widely, Ratchet's book tucked under my arm. This night is about to go out with a bang.

* * *

I manage to meet up with the others, all of them giving me lots of praise for stopping Shimagame. Chopper even said that Shimagame thanked me for stopping her. I give the manual to Robin and point out the self-destruct, and one hour and one explosion later, Ratchet's stupid castle has ceased to be.

As the dawn rises, we all sit on the Merry, watching as Shimagame safely lays her eggs, though Luffy and Nami are pretty bummed about the treasure. I sit on the railing next to Luffy, offering silent comfort as the eggs hatch, revealing big but adorable baby sea turtles. The sun rises higher and Luffy and I blink; holy crap!

"Nami! There really was treasure!" Luffy calls. "It is real, look!"

"Pika pika!" I agree, pointing to the baby turtles.

The egg shells are solid gold and their cracked formation makes them look like golden crowns! There really was a Golden Crown! Who knew?!

We help ourselves to one half of the giant shell and tie it behind the Merry. I sit on the back of the ship, watching it glisten in the light; we've really struck it rich now! Now we have more than enough to repair the Merry and maybe even get all that extra stuff we wanted, like a locking fridge, Chopper's medical books, more cannons, and everything!

But my smile fades as I realize that the egg shell is taking on a lot of sea water and the rope holding it is really getting stretched.

"Uh guys?" Chopper calls, appearing next to me, "Does it look like the treasure's shrinking?"

I grimace and Luffy and Nami shriek in horror as the shell slowly sinks into the ocean and the rope snaps. I shake my head in dismay; at least we still have our treasure from Skypiea. God only knows what we'll find at the next island.

* * *

 **OKAY! Now that this is FINALLY over, guess what's coming next? WATER 7! This is bound to get me back into my OP kick!**


	89. Aokiji

**Alright, time to head into the arc everyone's been waiting for! Some of you have pointed out that the Foxy's Return Arc happens before this and I know this. But it's super short and I feel like I've stalled Water 7 long enough (I've done two filler arcs AND a movie; I think that's more than enough)**

 **So get ready, cause things are about to get serious once again!**

* * *

"Hey! I see an island!" Usopp yells from the crow's nest.

I run up onto the Merry's head and Nami looks through a telescope, "Looks uninhabited to me." She says.

"Alright! Ready the anchor!" Luffy yells happily.

Once we dock, we all go out foraging for food materials. The best thing about simple islands like this is that you can have an open air Bar-BQ! Sanji makes us shish kabobs, made of fish meat, fruit, and almost all the other stuff we could find. Once we finish eating, we head into the forest to find anymore supplies we might need, but as we walk, we notice that there's a strange groove cut into the path.

"I wonder what it is…" Chopper muses.

"Pika." I agree.

"It looks like a bicycle or something came through here." Usopp points out.

"C'mon, that's ridiculous." Sanji scoffs. "There's no one else here."

I blink and look up at Robin; though her expression is neutral, I could've sworn I just felt a hint of fear from her. Despite us being together for so long, I still can hardly pick up on her emotions. Sure, we have a bond like the others, but it's a very...stiff bond. I don't feel completely at one with her like I do the others.

The forest ends and we come to a grassy clearing, with only a giant boulder sitting in the middle of it. Chopper suddenly gasps and starts running towards the rock, as there's what looks like a giant mushroom sitting on top of it.

"Hey! Don't you hog that mushroom!" Luffy exclaims, running after Chopper. Chopper runs to the front of the boulder, but is then suddenly knocked back, causing us all to go over to him.

"Chopper! Are you hurt?!" Luffy reaches Chopper first and starts, "Who the heck are you?!"

Sanji, Zoro and I are the next to arrive, "What's going on?" Zoro wonders.

My eyes widen in alarm; that mushroom was actually a person! And a really tall one at that; he's almost twice as tall as Sanji! He's wearing a nice white suit, with a sleeping mask on his forehead, "Do you mind? I was sleeping?" He says.

He was sleeping standing up? What is he, a Ponyta? Dammit, no mystery words, not now!

Usopp and Nami come next, "Whoa that guy is huge!" Usopp exclaims.

"I thought we were alone on this island!" Nami says.

Robin comes last, and she lets out an audible gasp. My ears twitch as a wave of fear washes over me. We all turn to her and Robin falls to the ground, her face pale and breathing heavily. Whoa, hold up! Is she...scared? I'm totally stunned; I've never this amount of emotion from anyone before, let alone Robin!

"You know him?" Luffy asks, and Zoro gets his swords ready.

"Is this guy an enemy?" Sanji asks urgently.

"Who is he?" Nami chimes in.

I go over to Robin's side, as her fear just keeps growing and pulsating by the second, "Pika?" I ask, feeling my fear quickly becoming influenced by hers.

"Oh man, if Robin's scared, then I'm freaking out!" Usopp cries. That's an understatement; nothing fazes Robin! I almost thought she wasn't scared of anything!

"Whoa now, I know you're surprised to see me, but there's no need to get worked up." The man says. "It's not like I came here on official orders or anything."

"And just who do you work for?" Zoro demanded, ready to unsheathe his sword.

"H-He's a Marine." Robin finally manages to say. "He's known as one of the World Government's Ultimate Powerhouses."

"For real?" Luffy asks.

Robin nods, "This is Admiral Aokiji, from Navy Headquarters."

The man, Aokiji, smiles, "You've grown into a lovely young lady haven't you, Nico Robin?"

My ears perk up; I remember Robin said the government deemed her a threat as a child, so did they meet? Did Robin escape from him when she was a kid? It would explain why she's so afraid of him. But that begs the question: what did he do to make her so afraid? What _can_ he do?

"Wait, he's an admiral?!" Sanji exclaimed, "That's one of the highest ranks there is!"

Robin nods shakily, "There are only three admirals in the entire Marine fleet," She explains. "Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru." Wow, if there are only three of them...I don't think I wanna know how strong that makes them!

"Why is someone like this all the way out here?!" Usopp demands. "Shouldn't he be out hunting some big time pirates or something?!"

Aokiji doesn't respond, but his gaze lands on Nami, making her shrink back slightly. "Oh my!"

"What?" Nami squeaks.

"Another very sexy lady with big bazongas; you free tonight?" Were the situation different, I would have burst out laughing.

"You watch your mouth, you lanky jerk!" Sanji yells.

"Hey, Stay focused!" Usopp yells.

Aokiji holds up his hands in surrender, "Whoa easy, didn't you hear me? I'm just here taking a stroll." He says. "And besides, you guys are just like...like…"

"What?" Luffy asks.

Aokiji scratches his head, "I forgot; oh well."

"You're not making any sense!" Sanji exclaims; yeah, I don't feel very threatened anymore.

"Robin, are you sure you aren't mistaking him for someone else?" Usopp asks. "This doofus wouldn't pass as a regular Marine!"

"Hey now, you shouldn't go around judging people like that." Aokiji says. "The motto I always live by is total slovenly judgement."

"Then our judgement was right!" Usopp and Sanji exclaim.

"Excuse me," Aokiji kneels down and lies on his side, resting his head on his folded up jacket, "Standing up for too long makes me tired."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have been sleeping standing up." Usopp points out.

"Anyway, the point is that I have no intention of capturing you or anything, so just relax." Aokiji says. "I'm just here to confirm that Nico Robin has been traveling with all of you, since she's been missing since the Alabasta incident."

That doesn't sound too bad, but considering they sent an admiral to do something so simple has put me back on edge. Not to mention that Robin's still pretty pale, but her fear seems to be ebbing away every so slightly.

"That is one tall piece of apathy." Sanji comments.

"The only high-ranking thing about him is his nerve." Usopp mutters.

"I'll throw together some kind of report later," Aokiji continues, "With the addition of Nico Robin, your overall bounty has gone up; 100 million, plus 60 million, plus 79 million, which makes…" He pauses, "I don't know, some big ass number." Aokiji closes his eyes after that, probably trying to sleep again; soooo are we safe?

"THAT'S IT! GUM GUM-"

"Luffy, stop!"

"Hang on, Luffy!"

I sigh as Sanji and Usopp hold a raging Luffy back; no I don't think we're out of the woods yet. "What are you doing, let me go!" Luffy yells, "I'm not just gonna sit here while he takes Robin away!"

"Calm down, I said I'm not gonna do anything." Aokiji repeats. Figures; he probably heard the words Marine Admiral and Robin and just tuned out the rest. The protective gesture is sweet, though.

Usopp and Sanji manage to hold Luffy back when my ears twitch. "Pika?" I turn around, and Aokiji's eyes widen as a bunch of people stumble out of the bushes. They look awful; they're dirty, pale, and their clothes are torn.

"Who are all these guys?" Nami wonders.

"Are you really a Marine?" One of them asks Aokiji.

"Whoa, are you guys okay?" Sanji asks, stepping forward in concern. I do as well, as I spy some younger kids among them, who look just as bad as the adults; what on earth happened to them?

"I thought this island was uninhabited." Usopp said.

"They're probably castaways." Aokiji says. "There was a passenger ship reported missing around a month ago last seen in this area; I'm guessing it sank." Wait, are you saying these guys have been here for a whole month?!

The rest of my crew catch on and we don't hesitate in helping them. Chopper patches up the injured and Sanji and Usopp go out to find food. I wander around making sure that everyone's mentally sound; the kids were pretty traumatized, but I manage to cheer them right up. Soon, Sanji and Usopp return and Sanji whips up another Bar-BQ. Once the survivors wolf down the food, they tell us what happened.

Apparently they were on a cruise ship when it collided with, you're not gonna believe this, something super weird. A giant frog doing the front crawl. It ran into the ship and shattered it, and this handful of people were the only survivors. I can't believe how numb I am to this shit by now.

"Are you serious?!" Nami exclaims.

"Besides, frogs normally do the breaststroke." Sanji comments.

"That sounds ridiculous." Usopp says; seriously? Out of everything we've seen out here, _that_ sounds ridiculous?!

"Yeah, that was Yokuzuna." Aokiji speaks up.

Luffy looks at him and frowns, "Oh, yeah, I forgot!" Usopp and Sanji grab him as he charges towards Aokiji again, "Stop screwing around you jerk, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Calm down, I told you I'm just here for a stroll." Aokiji says calmly; this guy has patience for weeks!

"Then take your stroll somewhere else!" Luffy orders. "It's like he's trying to pick a fight…" Nami mutters. "Pika…" I shake my head. Aokiji sighs, "Fine, I'll leave, but before I do," He points to the survivors, "You should gather your things and get ready to leave too; I know an inhabited island that's not too far from here that might be able to help you."

Luffy turns to the survivors, "Guys, don't listen to him! He's a Marine Officer!" Silence covers the place and I drag a paw down my face. Luffy...repeat that sentence to yourself, please?

"...So what?" One of the survivors says.

Luffy gapes until he pounds his fist on his palm, "Oh yeah! Normally the Marines are your friends and the pirates are the bad guys!" Hey, give him credit for figuring it out on his own.

"But how is he going to help anybody?" Luffy asks, pointing to Aokiji. Usopp shrugs, "I don't know; I don't think he even has a ship, and I don't think anyone has a Log Pose either!" "They'll be fine." Aokiji says. "Nothing you say sounds convincing at all." Usopp says.

"No, it's true." Robin speaks up, not having moved from her spot on the ground, "He does have the power to help them." Oh, now this I gotta see.

We make our way to the edge of the island, helping the survivors get all their stuff together along with some extra supplies. "So now what?" Luffy asks Aokiji, "Are you gonna swim and drag everyone behind you?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Aokiji says and makes his way down to the water. "Everyone stand back." He crouches down and puts his hand in the water. We all wait and watch with anticipation, when there's a huge splash.

We all jump as a giant sea serpent emerges from the water, right in front of Aokiji. The creature roars and moves towards Aokiji with open jaws. "Hey! Watch out!" Usopp yells.

"Get out of there!" Luffy yells, readying his fist, "Gum Gum…"

"Ice Age."

There's a loud crack, and everything freezes. I blink and gape along with everyone else; the sea serpent, and almost the entire ocean...is completely frozen solid!

"A Devil Fruit…" Zoro mutters; damn straight! And a super powerful one at that!

"This is the power of a Marine Admiral." Robin says softly. Okay, I definitely believe that now; holy mother of Articuno!

Aokiji lifts his hand out of the ice and stands, cool air surrounding him, "It'll stay like that for at least a week." He says, walking back passed us, "Just head out along the ice and you should reach the island in four days."

We all continue staring at the frozen ocean until the survivors break out into cheers of gratitude; I gotta say, that was a real nice thing of him to do! How many people can say that a Marine froze the ocean for them just so they could get to another island?

We finally bid farewell to the survivors as they begin their long trek across the ice path; they even thank us for treating their injured and feeding them. Once they vanish in the distance we head back up to the island; just standing on that frozen ocean is freezing!

However, we get up to see Aokiji sitting cross-legged on the ground, waiting for us.

"What is it?" Luffy asks.

Aokiji scratches his head, "How should I put this? You're the spitting image of your grandfather, Luffy." He says. "Just as reckless and hard to figure out."

Luffy freezes, "You know...my grandpa?!" He exclaims. Luffy has a grandpa? I keep forgetting that these guys had families before all this. They're never really brought up...I wonder if that's because of me?

I shudder and look at Luffy, seeing that he's broken into a cold sweat. Yikes; that's the biggest mix of fear and anxiety I've ever felt! But why would he feel that way about his grandpa?

"I wanted to see you and Nico Robin with my own two eyes...but on second thought…" Aokiji looks up and glares at us, "Maybe I should just kill you."

A giant chill seems to sweep over the entire island, and the next thing I know, all of us are at the ready.

"The government doesn't deem you a threat, but I know enough of your history to know that you're a formidable bunch that can and will easily grow into a problem later on." Aokiji explains. "Considering the circumstances of your initial bounty and the speed of your progress, thinking about how you'll turn out scares the hell out of me."

"Hold on! You said you weren't here to kill anyone!" Usopp protests.

"Only one among you I consider the most dangerous," Aokiji continues, "And that would be you, Nico Robin."

"So you really are here for Robin! Now I'm really gonna kick your ass!" Luffy yells.

"You should know that her bounty is just a measurement of her overall power," Aokiji says, "It also represents just how much of a threat she poses to the World Government; that's why such a high bounty was put on her head at the age of eight."

So Robin wasn't exactly strong as a kid, but she was enough of a threat as a kid to warrant a 79 million bounty?! What the hell happened?! What did she do to get that kind of attention to herself at such a young age?!

"I'm impressed you manage to live this long since you were a child." Aokiji says, his gaze locked on Robin, "You managed to betray, sidestep, and escape everyone in your path; you survived by being quick to switch sides and now you're using this crew as your next haven."

Robin begins to shake visibly and Sanji steps forward, "That's enough! I'm not gonna let you talk to a lady like that; what kind of grudge do you have against Robin?!" He yells.

"I don't have anything against her." Aokiji answers. "Our only connection is that I let her escape once when she was a little girl." So they did meet once! And...he let her go? He said this happened when Robin was little so maybe he took pity on her.

"You'll find out real quick that protecting this woman will lead to nothing but regret." Aokiji keeps going as he slowly stands. "If you need proof then consider this; every organization that she's had something to do with in the past has been annihilated. Not one member escaped except for her."

"Shut up!" Luffy yells. "The past doesn't matter!"

"That's right!" Usopp agrees. "If it did we wouldn't have a dangerous former pirate hunter or a degenerate, conniving ex-thief woman on our crew!"

Nami smacks him, "Don't overdo it!" You're just mad because he's right…

"Who we are now is more important than who we were!" Sanji agrees.

"That's right! Robin's our friend!" Chopper pipes up.

"Pikachu!" I agree with a nod; hell I have _no past_ at all and I'm still accepted here!

Aokiji shakes his head, "So these poor fools don't suspect a thing."

Something snaps in Robin's gaze and she crosses her arms, "Just get to the point!" She yells. "If you want to arrest me, then just do it already! Treinte Fleur!" Petals surround Aokiji and thirty arms pop out and grab him.

"No! Robin!" Usopp yells in fear.

"My, did I strike a nerve?" Aokiji asks.

"And Clutch!" Robin says and Aokiji breaks right in half, shattering into piece of ice. We all watch as the pieces of ice slowly come back together, forming Aokiji's body once more. Oh crap; he's completely made of ice! We can't hurt him!

"Now, that wasn't very nice." Aokiji chides. He then grabs a few blades of grass and throws them into the air. He blows some cool air over them and forms a giant razor sword made of ice. Oh Arceus…

"I didn't want to have to kill you, but now…" Aokiji swings his sword back and Robin makes to cross her arms when-

 _Clang!_

Robin looks up to see Zoro blocking Aokiji's sword with his own. Sanji then runs up and easily kicks the blade away.

"I don't remember asking for your help, cook." Zoro says.

"Funny, I don't remember asking you for yours either." Sanji retorts.

Luffy growls and runs towards them. "Gum Gum…" My eyes widen as Aokiji reaches out and grasps Sanji's leg and Zoro's arm, "...Pistol!"

Luffy's fist hits Aokiji's middle, but the tall man doesn't even flinch. "He's cold!" Luffy cries. Ice begins to cover Aokiji's body and climb the areas that are touching him, including Luffy's arm, Zoro's shoulder, and Sanji's leg.

"PIKA PI!" I yell as my three friends scream in pain. I feel my mind start to shut down as Luffy, Zoro and Sanji all fall to the ground, writhing in agony and clutching their frozen limbs. Usopp and Chopper scream in fear, too paralyzed to move. I start to visibly shake as I stare at Aokiji in horror.

"Robin! Run!" Nami yells, but Robin doesn't move.

Aokiji smiles, "You have some loyal friends, but you will never change, Nico Robin."

Robin clenches her jaw, "No...that's not true!" A scream dies in my throat as Aokiji leans forward and starts to wrap his icy arms around Robin.

"ROBIN!" Luffy screams and ice begins to climb her body.

My pulse speeds up and I hear my heart in my ears as my vision becomes blurry with memories of the recent past. A giant plant on top of a mountain…

Arrows flying past me and whistling in the air…

Six motionless figures slowly vanishing one by one into the plant…

Luffy pinned to a rock and lying motionless on the ground…

A dark figure laughing maniacally over me…

I start to feel light headed and my vision starts to go red. All I can think is that I have to stop him. I have to stop him. Stop him from killing them! He's going to kill my family! If I don't stop him then I'll-

I hear the loud rumble of thunder and crashing of lightning in my head, nearly drowning out the yells and screams of my friends to stop.

No...that can't happen again...I _can't_ let that happen again!

Before I know it, I'm zooming towards Aokiji and Robin, my tail becoming iron. I growl loudly, baring my fangs and leap between Aokiji and Robin. Without hesitating, I slam my tail into Aokiji's chest as hard as I can. To my delight, I send him back, making him release Robin, leaving her with her arms and upper body sans her head just about coated in ice and a few decent sized ice patches on her hips and legs.

"Pika-chan!" Usopp and Chopper yell in shock.

I land and immediately run in for another attack, increasing my speed. I leap towards Aokiji before he can properly recover and land hit after hit on him, taking full advantage of my newfound agility. I hear the others calling out to me as I slam my tail onto Aokiji over and over again.

 _'You. Leave. Them. Alone!'_ I yell with every tail strike. Ice covers my tail but I don't even feel it; probably because my tail currently iron and Steel moves always trump Ice.

 _'You're finally getting some typing knowledge back, Tiny.'_

With those thoughts, another rings through my head as ice begins to creep towards me. Without thinking, I begin to dig. I dig with all my might and soon, I'm underground. My ears twitch as I can sense everything on the surface, and I know where Aokiji is. So Sandy did teach me this move after all.

I quickly dig my way behind the Admiral and leap out of the ground, striking his back. Aokiji whirls around but I quickly move back to the ground. I literally hit the ground digging, and soon I'm safely underground again. Even though he's not showing that he's in pain, I'm keeping him away from Robin which is good enough for me. As long as he's far away from my family, I don't care what he-

"Alright, that's enough." Aokiji locks eyes with me as I lunge towards him from under the ground.

My eyes widen as I feel his hand grab my body from the side and in an instant, I feel a chill like no other, even worse than the blizzards of Drum Mountain. I barely even comprehend the feeling climbing my body as my movements slow to a perfect halt.

I barely hear the others screaming my name before my vision goes white.

* * *

 **Yeah, I know, I'm a terrible person, but your torches and pitchforks here**

 **Oh and congratulations! Your Pika-chan remembered Dig!**


	90. Melting Walls

**I appreciated those who pulled out the Ice Heal jokes for the previous chapter XD**

 **But that makes me wonder, how exactly does an Ice Heal work? When Pokémon are frozen, at least in the anime, they basically get stuck in a giant ice cube. So do you just spray the ice and it just magically melts? Or are Ice Heals just ice picks and hammers? XD**

* * *

"PIKA-CHAN!"

Usopp, Chopper, Nami, and Sanji all screamed in horror as the mouse was reduced to a tiny ice statue. It stared blankly ahead, frozen in it's lunging position, the moment in time captured perfectly by the ice.

Aokiji balanced the frozen mouse in his large palm and looked it over. "Hm, shame; it was such a cute little thing too." He put a hand on his chest, "Those attacks actually hurt; you're quite the big mystery for such a tiny package." He studied Pika-chan for a few seconds more before his eyes were drawn to Robin.

The archeologist was still nearly half frozen on the ground but she wasn't moving. She had passed out, whether from the shock of the cold attack or her fear of Aokiji, no one knew.

Luffy's horrified expression slowly became one of unrestrained rage, "YOU BASTARD!"

"Stop yelling." Aokiji said flatly. "If you thaw them both out carefully, they should be fine." He held up Pika-chan. "This one however, is much more fragile in this state; it's still alive but if any part of its body breaks, it will die."

He then held Pika-chan by the back. Everyone's eyes widened in horror as he reared back like he was about to toss a baseball. "For example, if I was to smash it like this…!"

Everyone screamed and Luffy started towards Aokiji.

"NO!"

"PIKA-CHAN!"

"STOOOOOP!"

Silence fell over the island like a giant brick. What had just happened was a blur.

All everyone knew was that Aokiji's hand was devoid of Pika-chan's statue and Luffy was on the ground on his back, Pika-chan close to his chest. He had somehow stolen Pika-chan from the Marine's grasp mid throw. "That was too close…" Luffy breathed, his eyes wide in a rare expression of fear.

Sanji nearly passed out on the spot; his heartbeat was in his ears and his vision was dangerously close to spotted. Too close? Somehow that seemed like the biggest understatement ever.

Aokiji glared at Luffy and raised his foot to aim at Robin, but there was a flash of movement and both Pika-chan and Robin were out of range of the Admiral while Luffy endured the kick. Usopp had sprinted into the fray, grabbing both Pika-chan and Robin and running well away from Aokiji.

"Alright!" Nami cheered.

"That was amazing Usopp!" Chopper cried.

Luffy quickly turned onto his stomach, "Usopp! Chopper! Take Robin and Pika-chan back to the ship! Thaw them out and keep Robin safe!" He yelled.

"You got it, Captain!" Chopper and Usopp chimed.

Chopper quickly transformed to Heavy Point and picked up Robin bridal style. Since her legs weren't completely frozen, he could focus more on keeping her upper body from receiving any damage. Her breathing was very shallow and uneven, most likely due to the ice near her neck and on her chest, not to mention the sudden temperature change from the attack was probably making her body temperature go crazy.

Usopp held Pika-chan close to his chest, his arms and hands wrapped around every part of Pika-chan that seemed the most fragile, like its ears and tail. Usopp couldn't help but be grateful that Pika-chan was so small; hopefully that would make it easier to protect. After all, this happened because Pika-chan was trying to protect them; it was the least he could he do to return the favor.

They made it back to the Merry in record time and practically burst into the bathroom. It wasn't long before the tiny room was flooding with warm water. They sat Robin up in the tub under the shower and Chopper instructed Usopp to keep an eye on her and start rubbing any area that no longer had ice. "Since she wasn't frozen solid she should be fine once the ice melts, but we have to keep her body temperature up as much as possible so her heart doesn't give out!"

Meanwhile, Chopper stood in the tub and held Pika-chan only halfway in the water, not fully submerging it. He splashed water over top of it every few seconds but was careful not to get it too wet.

"Are you sure that will work?" Usopp asked as he continued monitoring Robin. Her shoulders were now free of ice and her chest and upper arms were well on the way.

"I don't know…" Chopper answered tightly.

"Whoa, you don't know?!" Usopp demanded. "This is Pika-chan's life we're talking about here!"

Chopper bit his lip as he stared at Pika-chan's frozen body. "I know...but I've never treated anything living that was completely frozen before!" He continued splashing Pika-chan with water. "I know Aokiji said it was still alive...but with Pika-chan's small body I just don't see how it could be possible!"

"Don't give me that crap!" Usopp snapped. "If you can't save it then no one else in the world can! You're the doctor of the Straw Hat Pirates!"

"I know, just shut up and stop yelling at me!" Chopper yelled and continued splashing Pika-chan through his tears.

Usopp grit his teeth and turned his attention back to Robin. Her chest was now fully free of ice and only her waist remained frozen, her hips having thawed out a while ago from sitting in the tub.

"Chopper, her breathing is back to normal!" Usopp said after a while. Chopper looked up and sure enough, her breathing was back to a steady pace. A few moments later, the rest of the Straw Hats, sans Luffy, arrived at the Merry. Chopper went out to meet them and left Usopp in charge of Pika-chan.

By this point, Pika-chan's ears and part of its tail was thawed out which Usopp was grateful for. He wasn't sure if he could take it if Pika-chan's tail snapped off while frozen. _'What the hell were you thinking…?'_ He thought as he continued pouring water on Pika-chan. _'A little guy like you against a Navy Admiral...you must've known that you didn't stand a chance!'_

And yet, it still fought. In fact, this happened on many occasions. So many enemies they had faced so far had been giant compared to Pika-chan. Any normal creature at that small height would've turned tail instantly...but not Pika-chan. Whether it was Arlong, Crocodile, giant machines or even a big name from the World Government, Pika-chan was always willing to fight. It was so tiny and carried so much power...and it used it for them.

Usopp took a deep breath as Pika-chan's ears fully thawed out. "You better make it through this…" He said softly.

It wasn't long before Chopper and Nami came back in to help. Nami took the half-conscious and now fully thawed Robin out of the bathroom to get her to a more comfortable bed, while Chopper took over Pika-chan's treatment and Usopp got some towels.

Nami looked after Robin, and once Sanji's frostbite was taken care of, he helped with Pika-chan's thawing. After what felt like forever, Pika-chan lay in Chopper's hooves, limp, pale, and unconscious. Sanji wrapped the mouse in multiple blankets and Chopper said to give it as much body heat as possible.

Sanji held Pika-chan close to his chest for a while, until they realized that Luffy still hadn't come back. Nami took over watching Pika-chan, and Sanji went with Zoro, only to find their captain frozen solid. They brought him back to the ship and the Straw Hats hurried about, taking care of their three injured members.

At that point, their only wish was that no more trouble came to them while they were recovering.

* * *

I open my eyes to find myself in a void. At first I think that it's the blue void of my mind, but that's quickly squashed by the fact that this void is pure white. It's like I'm floating through nothing, there's not even any ground. That's probably not a good sign.

What happened? Oh yeah, I was fighting that Aokiji guy and he...oh crap…

 _'What the HELL were you thinking?!'_

I whirl around at the familiar voice. _'Sandy?'_

The Krokorok is glaring at me, his arms crossed; I've never seen him this angry.

 _'What happened?'_ I ask as a morbid thought crosses my mind. _'Am I-'_

 _'No, you're not dead.'_ Sandy says sharply. _'But you cut it pretty damn close!'_ I cower as Sandy gets right up in my face; if I remember correctly, he was a force to be reckoned with when angry. _'I'll say it again; **what the hell were you thinking?!'**_ He demands.

I swallow and look back in defiance, _'I wasn't just going to sit there! He was gonna hurt Robin!'_

 _'Yeah, and I'm glad you saved her, but did you even have a plan when you went rushing in?'_ Sandy retorts.

 _'Well I...uh…'_ I stutter as my mind goes blank.

 _'You pulled a Luffy again, didn't you?'_ Sandy says flatly.

I glare at him. _'Well, what was I supposed to do?!'_

 _'I don't know, maybe **not** get frozen?'_

 _'Oh yeah, that's some real golden advice right there, thanks!'_

 _'Well considering that you're here, you didn't follow it!'_

I roll my eyes, growling under my breath. _'Look, he was going to kill Robin, I had to do something!'_

 _'You don't know that!'_

My eyes widen. _'The guy was a freaking **Navy Admiral!** Robin was **terrified** of him, that's an automatic red flag in my book!'_ I nearly yell _'And he was about to freeze her when I stepped in; of course he was going to kill her!'_

 _'Even so, I think Robin would've had a way better chance of surviving if she got frozen instead of you!'_

I grit my teeth; I can't believe what I'm hearing! _'You're acting like I'm dead when you just said I wasn't!'_ I yell.

 _'I said you cut it close; do you know what this is?!'_ Sandy yells right back, gesturing to the area. _'This is basically limbo between life and death! It's an Arceus damned miracle that you stopped here!'_

 _'WELL I'D RATHER DIE MYSELF THAN WATCH MY FAMILY DIE AGAIN!'_ I finally explode and the void becomes silent once again.

I breathe heavily and Sandy's eyes slowly narrow. _'Tiny…'_ He says slowly. _'How long have you felt like this?'_

I wince and turn away from him, _'I...I don't want to talk about it.'_

 _'Don't make me bring up your memories.'_ Sandy threatens.

I snap back to him, _'You wouldn't!'_

 _'Well, if you won't spill the beans…'_ The white void suddenly becomes filled with multiple images, all of them containing my memories of our voyage.

However, it isn't long before a certain set make themselves known.

A man with a bow and arrow, a small flower on his shoulder...a giant plant on a mountain...Luffy pinned to a rock with four arrows...the man laughing like a maniac...visions of red combined with screams emanating from obscure but familiar figures.

 **'Pika-chan, that's enough!**

 **'Snap out of it, damn rodent!'**

 **'Please Pika-chan, please come back!'**

 **'Please Pika-chan stop this!'**

 **'The Baron's gone; we're safe now, we're all safe!'**

 **'PIKA-CHAN! STOP!'**

 _'NO!'_ I scream, closing my eyes and covering my ears. I don't want to remember that day! That island...what I did...what I almost lost...I can't bear it!

Thankfully, the memories vanish, bringing us back to the white void again. I continue to shake in the same position until I feel Sandy's claw on my head. I look up to see him, his eyes sympathetic but firm.

I bite my lip and lower my head, my ears drooping, _'I had to…'_ I say brokenly. _'I had to do something...I couldn't let that side of me out again…'_ I take a deep breath, _'And I couldn't watch someone take them away from me again…'_

Sandy sighs, _'I get it, Tiny; I can't imagine how that day was for you.'_ He says. _'But you shouldn't throw yourself at something that's clearly out of your league; that's Luffy's job.'_

 _'But I couldn't just stand there and do nothing.'_ I protest weakly. _'Robin's my friend.'_

 _'I know.'_ Sandy sits down so he's matching my eye level, _'There's nothing I can do to change that; your loyalty has always been a force to be reckoned with.'_

 _'Really?'_ I ask. _'I was always like this?'_

 _'Well, not in a 'throw yourself at a Navy Admiral' kind of way, but you were always quick to defend the ones you cared about.'_

 _'I guess that makes sense.'_ I admit, looking at the ground, _'My crew...my friends...they're everything to me. They're all I have, thanks to my stupid amnesia.'_

Sandy nods, _'You'd really do anything for them?'_

 _'Of course.'_ I answer without hesitation.

 _'Then how would that make them feel?'_

Sandy's question makes me blank for a second, _'Huh?'_

 _'It's good to be loyal and all, but you've gotta think about how others will be affected.'_ Sandy explains. _'If you didn't make it, if you were dead right now, how do you think your buddies would feel?'_

My eyes widen as I remember Skypiea and all the other times my friends were worried about my safety.

How worried Sanji was when I got sick, or hurt.

How hard Zoro tried to not hurt me when Eneru was possessing me.

How angry Luffy got whenever I was upset.

How frantic Chopper was whenever I had a panic attack.

How Nami would hug me tightly after realizing I was safe.

How protectively Usopp would hold me if danger was near.

I know that all of them care for me; that's why I try so hard to fight for them and keep them safe. And being my size, I have to work twice as hard for their sake.

 _'They all love you, Tiny.'_ Sandy says, most likely having heard my thoughts. _'Having these bonds is good, but it makes breaking them all the more dangerous.'_

I slowly frown as I think of the bonds I share with my crewmates. I remember how devastated I was when they disappeared thanks to that memory thief. If I had rampant emotions when it happened...Oh Arceus, the Straw Hats would've been devastated! I don't even try to picture their reactions if something terrible happened to me; those are faces and emotions I never ever want to feel.

 _'Then what am I supposed to do?'_ I ask desperately. _'Not fight back when my friends are in danger?'_

Sandy takes a deep breath and stands up straight, _'I'm not saying that you shouldn't have saved Robin, I'm saying that you should fear death just a little more.'_

I blink in slight surprise, _'But I do fear death.'_

 _'Yeah, that's exactly why you risked getting frozen solid.'_ Sandy sniped.

I roll my eyes, but the point gets across. Yeah, pulling a Luffy back there really wasn't a smart move, especially since I ended up here.

Speaking of here, I look around as the white void slowly changed back to a royal blue color with the same reflective floor. _'Is this…?'_

 _'Your mind? Sure is.'_ Sandy answers. _'Congrats, Tiny; you survived being frozen solid.'_

I can't help but sigh in relief; being frozen solid by an admiral wasn't exactly how I wanted to go out.

 _'Well, now that you're out of the woods, or rather, out of the ice, you should probably head back,'_ Sandy says. _'Don't want that rubber captain of yours to throw himself at that guy again out of rage.'_

I smile slightly, _'I think I'd be more worried about Sanji.'_

Sandy snorts, _'Fair enough.'_ He puts his claw on my head, _'Hey, try not to let That Island get to you; it's long gone.'_

My smile falls, _'Yeah; I almost wiped it off the map.'_ I grumble.

 _'It wasn't your fault and you know it; you had this conversation with your buddies.'_ Sandy says.

 _'That doesn't make it any less horrifying.'_ I say softly.

Sandy sighs, _'Then think of it like this: you got your crew to appreciate your bond with them so much more.'_ My head slowly lifts as I remember how sorry everyone was when they figured out why I had gotten so upset on That Island.

 _'Thanks to you, you guys are closer than ever.'_ Sandy says. _'And you know what they say: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.'_

Yeah...he's right. Thanks to that day, I think I grew closer to my new family than I ever thought possible. Yeah it was traumatizing, but we picked up the pieces together, and promised to go through everything together.

I smile kindly up at my friend, _'Thanks a lot, Sandy, really.'_ I say _'You always seem to know what to say.'_

Sandy shrugs, _'Well, isn't that what your conscience is supposed to do?'_

I blink, _'You're my conscience?'_ I ask. _'But...how?'_

Sandy taps his temple giving me a grin. _'It's **your** head, remember; you figure it out.'_ He says. _'And as your conscience, my work here is done, so I'll leave you to wake up and lick your wounds.'_

I make a face, _'Ew, I'm not a Pyroar.'_

Sandy smirks and gives me a little wave, _'See you around Tiny.'_ He turns to go, _'Oh.'_ He pauses and looks back at me, _'Try not to worry so much about that other side of you.'_

I start, _'What?! But-But that side of me is dangerous! I can't let it happen again!'_

 _'I know it is, and worrying about it will just make it worse.'_ Sandy responds. _'You don't fully understand it yet, so just leave it alone; it'll become clear soon.'_

I bite my lip but he has a point; worrying about it won't do any good if I don't even know what that side of me is. And honestly, I don't want to know more about it if I can. _'Thanks, Sandy.'_ I say with a small smile.

Sandy gives me a grin, _'Go wake up, Tiny.'_ Sandy disappears into the void and I close my eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the lounge of the Going Merry, the Straw Hats all lay sound asleep. Zoro was asleep against the wall, Usopp was leaning on the side of Luffy's mattress, Nami and Chopper were collapsed against each other on the ground and Luffy was snoring away in his made up bed as if nothing happened.

The only one awake was Robin as she sat against the wall from her mattress and stared at the sight right next to her, her blanket around her shoulders. Sanji was propped against the wall right next to her mattress, sound asleep with Pika-chan safely in his arms, still cocooned in thick blankets. The mouse had a few red spots on its face from where the cold had irritated its skin beneath its fur, but other than that, it looked completely fine.

Robin couldn't take her eyes off the sleeping mouse. She didn't remember much before she passed out; just the cold, ice, and Pika-chan in her vision before blackness. From what Chopper told her, Aokiji had frozen Pika-chan completely.

Robin knew all too well that Aokiji was meaning to freeze her, but Pika-chan had stepped up to fight and got frozen in the process. It was nothing short of a miracle that the mouse had survived, Luffy as well.

Robin frowned slightly as she hesitantly reached out to pet Pika-chan, but pulled away at the last second. Because of her, these people, her... friends had an encounter with one of the Government's most terrifying weapons. An encounter that almost cost them both Luffy and Pika-chan...all because of her.

Yet, they all defended her. They didn't leave her for dead like so many other people would've. But she was especially surprised at Pika-chan. It was the same feeling when she put together what had happened at Omatsuri, what caused the mouse to go berserk and nearly destroy everything.

This creature...it was willing to give anything for its crew. It was as if they were Pika-chan's entire world and it couldn't bare to lose a single one of them. She had never seen these traits in any other creature; animals and creatures were capable of loyalty, but not to this degree.

"Pika…?"

Robin started at the weak but familiar voice. To her surprise, Pika-chan was awake, and looking at her. It brightened at the sight of her and carefully crawled out of the blanket it was wrapped in. Her eyes widened as it slowly climbed from Sanji to her bed.

"Pikachu?" It asked quietly, looking up at her, its paws on her leg. The question in its voice and expression was obvious. _'Are you okay?'_

After everything, after getting frozen solid in her place, it was asking if _she_ was okay? Robin suppressed a shudder as Pika-chan's cold paws rested on her leg, "You really should be resting, Pikachu." She said. She carefully picked the blanket up from Sanji's sleeping form and draped it around Pika-chan. "You still have a chill from-"

She cut herself off as images of that fight resurfaced for an instant, making her flinch.

"Pika pika." Pika-chan said softly shaking its head, a smile still on its face. It was telling her not to worry.

But how could she not worry? Just about all of her worst fears came true. Even though they said they didn't care about her past, surely it wouldn't be long before they started to ask questions. They had to be curious, and then she would run the risk of them becoming afraid of her and her past. She would be alone...again.

"You shouldn't have done that…" she said softly, not looking at the mouse. "Aokiji wouldn't have hurt you if you hadn't interfered, and yet you…"

Pika-chan's face became one of sympathy and sorrow, "Pika pi…" It then crawled onto her lap, keeping the blanket on its small body. It nuzzled against her, curling into its blanket. Of course; Pika-chan could feel her emotions. It seemed that not even she could hide them from the mouse anymore.

Pika-chan stared up at her, a small smile on its face. It's eyes were locked with hers, nothing but understanding shining in the tiny black orbs. _'It's okay…'_ They said.

Robin bit her lip as she finally began to understand what the others meant when they said Pika-chan had an emotional effect on others. No matter what she said, what she did, as long as it was just the two of them, Pika-chan would listen. It wouldn't judge, it wouldn't tell; it would help carry whatever weight it could.

And so...in that moment, Robin finally allowed some of her weakness to show through. Her fear of Aokiji, the hurt she felt from the harshness of his words, she allowed Pika-chan to see it.

She picked Pika-chan up, blanket and all, into her arms, and held the creature close. Pika-chan nuzzled against her as she shook ever so slightly. She wasn't fully letting down her wall, but she had a feeling Pika-chan didn't care. It just wanted to help her get through tonight, nothing more.

Robin slid down under her covers, still holding Pika-chan close to her chest and her eyes slowly closed. The two lay in silence as sleep slowly and gently wrapped its tendrils around them, allowing them to drift into the realm of dreams.

The two would sleep late into the next morning, Pika-chan still pressed firmly against the archeologist, calm smiles gracing their faces.

* * *

 **The Robin & Pika-chan nakamaship is sailing full speed ahead :3**


	91. Water 7

**Okay, before we start, I need to address something:**

 **Some people have been starting to get on me about my updates becoming less and less frequent so let me clear something up.**

 **1\. My life and writing doesn't revolve around you guys; I have my own life and writing this in particular takes a lot of time (this arc in particular since I have to figure out how Pika-chan's gonna fit in which basically means re-watching the whole arc). If you wanna know why I'm not updating you don't have to be rude about it. (many of you have been very patient however, and I greatly appreciate that)**

 **2\. The reason this is taking so long is because I'm a rising senior in college; that means that life is slowly wrapping it's cold fingers around me and making me work to get ready to face the real game of life when I graduate.**

 **3\. This summer is probably going to be even harder to keep up with because I have a summer job and possibly an internship to pay attention to, so who knows how much of my time that's going take up. So just be aware that I'm still trying to reach my Friday update schedule, but life will most likely keep me from it. I'll update as soon as I am able. Besides, I've managed to get you 90 freaking chapters of this story while MOSTLY keeping the deadline; I think I can take a break.**

 **Alright, now that that's out of the way, let's get on with the chapter!**

* * *

I stretch and yawn on the head of the Merry as we sail across the sea. The weather had been fluctuating between Spring and Summer, and the sun is heavenly either way. We had stayed docked on that last island for four days, giving myself, Robin, and Luffy time to recover from our icy experience.

Today's the third day we've started sailing again, and things have reverted back to the normal hijinks I'm used to. I chuckle as Luffy dumps flour all over himself, reenacting himself when he's frozen. Only Luffy can take a past injury and have a laugh about it.

"Namiiiii~!" Sanji cries, hurrying up to the upper deck, carrying a bowl, "I made this potato paella especially for you, my darling."

"Thanks!" Nami says, taking the bowl. She takes a bite, "Delicious!"

"That makes me so happy!" Sanji cries. I roll my eyes; I'm in a good mood today so I'll let him have this one.

"Hey, keep it down you jerk!" Zoro barks from his spot near me where he was sleeping.

"Oh, sorry about that Cactus Head." Sanji sneers.

"Say that again, you cigarette snorkeling dartboard!" Zoro shoots back, making Sanji freeze.

"What did you call me?" Sanji asks.

"Dartboard. Dartboard Eyebrows." Zoro repeats.

I snort and cover my mouth with my paw. Sanji looks at me sharply and my smile fades, "Did you just laugh at that?"

I shake my head, putting on a poker face, "Chu." _'No.'_

"Did you just laugh at that?!"

"Chu!" _'No!'_

"Sanjiiiiii! I want food! Make me whatever Nami has!" Luffy yells.

"It's potato paella!" Nami adds.

Sanji rolls his eyes, "Almost freezes to death and he's still a bottomless pit." He mutters. "Oh yeah; you feel up to eating, Pika-chan?"

"Pika!" I nod with a smile.

While Sanji goes and cooks, I make my way to the lounge, slipping through the door. Robin looks up and smiles from her make-shift bed, "Hello, Pikachu."

"Pika." I wave and I make my way over to her. Robin's been pretty quiet and keeping herself isolated ever since we left that island. She's probably still shaken from our close encounter with Aokiji.

I leap onto her lap and lie down, Robin stroking my back; ever since our little moment that night, we've been getting closer. Robin's walls are slowly coming down and our bond is growing stronger with every passing day. She always seems to relax when I'm around, so I've tried to stick by her side a little more often.

A little while later, there's a gentle knock and Sanji peeks in, "I thought I'd find you in here." He says to me, earning a smile from me in response.

"Hello Mr. Cook." Robin greets.

"Hello, my dear!" Sanji says. "I've just finished making a batch of potato paella; would you like anything?"

"Some coffee would be nice." Robin answers.

"Of course," Sanji says. "Pika-chan, your dish is in the galley whenever you want it."

"Chu." I nod and Sanji exits.

Robin looks down at me and picks me up, "Why don't we go to the galley?" She offers.

"Pika." _'Sure.'_ I respond. We make our way to the galley and Robin takes a seat, placing me on the table. She summons some arms, bringing my plate of potato paella to the table from the counter.

I smile in thanks and start eating, and Nami comes in a while later. "Hey, you two!" She greets. "How are you feeling Robin?"

"I'm fine." Robin says kindly. Everyone's been pretty careful around Robin ever since we were frozen, but Robin doesn't seem to mind. But it makes sense; Robin just looks and feels a lot more fragile than she used to be. ...And judging by what Aokiji told us about her, I have a feeling that might be the case.

Nami sits down next to Robin, and Sanji arrives with her coffee, along with a cup for Nami. "Sorry to keep you waiting, mademoiselles." He says, when the ship rocks sharply. Arms appear and keep everyone steady, including our food.

"What the...what's going on out there?!" Nami exclaims.

"It seems like the ship has changed course." Robin answers, sipping her coffee.

"What?!" Nami springs to her feet and bursts out the door. I listen in slightly and I hear Luffy say something about chasing a giant frog with scars all over it doing the front crawl. Wait...that sounds familiar...didn't Aokiji say that frog was named Yoku-something? I jump onto Robin's shoulder as she and Sanji join Nami outside.

"Do you see an island?!" Luffy shouts to Nami, who's looking through her binoculars.

"Not really; just a lighthouse." She answers.

"What about the frog? Where did it go?" Luffy asks.

"Like I'm telling you!" Nami retorts.

"It looks like it's heading towards the lighthouse." Robin says, making Nami flinch. I squint and look, seeing something swimming towards a lighthouse figure in the distance; guess she's right.

"Frogs should be marinated in white wine to dissolve the mucus, then you cook them with flour and fry them up until crisp." Sanji says out of nowhere. Okay, I gotta admit, his robot chef mode is just a tad weirder and creepier than his lover-boy mode.

"Sanji, now's not the time!" Nami snaps.

"If the Captain says we're going after the frog, we don't have much choice in the matter." Robin says. She's right, you know.

"Robin…" Nami whines.

"Full speed ahead!" Luffy yells. "After that frog!"

"Aye!" The Merry follows the frog until we get closer to the lighthouse, and the frog leaps out of the water.

"Quick, don't let it get away!" Luffy yells. The ship turns again, and-

 **CRASH!**

We're all thrown to the ground, Robin having caught me when I toppled off her shoulder. "What the heck was that?!" Nami exclaims.

"We must've run ashore or something." Usopp says.

My ears twitch as a strange ringing sound fills the air. "What's that?" Nami wonders.

I look up from Robin's arms and see a sign, flashing two red lights. Then I hear what sounds like an engine and...a whistle? I move and leap onto the railing and look down only to see train tracks just barely visible under the ocean. My ears droop and my face pales as I put the pieces together and the whistle gets louder.

Luckily, Nami does too, "Full reverse!" She screams. "Turn full 180 degrees!"

"What the hell is that?!" Sanji yells as the train grows closer.

Everyone else panics and springs into action, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Chopper grabbing the oars. I stay on the railing and watch with the others as the train gets closer and closer every second. Luckily, the Merry slides off the tracks just in time, landing safely back in the ocean just as the train zooms by.

"That was close!" Luffy exclaims.

"That hunk of metal is trying to kill us!" Usopp cries. I sigh in relief and stare at the train; what on earth is a train doing in the middle of the ocean?

"Is it a ship?" Chopper asks, catching my attention. Does...he not know what a train is?

"Now way; something that big and heavy shouldn't even be able to float!" Nami exclaims. Wait, really? Have none of these guys seen a train before?

We then hear a splash and turn to see that the giant frog has leapt onto the tracks, right in the path of the train!

"Hey! Get out of the way!" Luffy cries.

"Pikachu!"

The frog stands his ground and the train slams right into him, knocking him off the tracks like a doll. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all scream in horror as the frog falls right back into the water; I think we just got a hint of where all those scars are from. The ship rocks as the train roars past until it finally comes to an end, leaving us all breathless.

"What...was that thing?!" Usopp squeaks.

"It looked like it was spitting out smoke!" Chopper exclaims.

I look back at them with a frown on my face, "Pika pika?" _'You guys really don't know what that is?'_

Chopper looks up at me, "Huh? You know what that is?" He asks, catching everyone's attention.

"Pika-chan, you've seen something like that before?" Nami asks. I nod silently; of course I've seen one. I'm honestly surprised you guys haven't. But then again...this place is mostly ocean, so I guess it makes sense.

"Is it some kind of steamboat?" Nami asks.

I smirk and shake my head before doing a light imitation of the train, along with blowing the whistle.

"Hold on…" Sanji says, rubbing his chin in thought, "If Pika-chan's seen that thing before...I wonder if-"

"GRANNY, GRANNY! PIRATES!" A little voice yells out. We all turn to see a little blonde girl with pigtails outside the little island near the tracks, with a little blue bunny beside her.

"Pirates?" A woozy voice calls out. "Better get the Transponder Snail, then!" A large blonde woman stumbles out the door, wearing what looks like a conductor's outfit. The little girl brings out a big transponder snail and the woman picks up the transceiver without even dialing, "Hello...who is this? ...Sorry, wrong number!" And she hangs up, making us all sweatdrop.

"She's totally drunk!" Usopp exclaims.

Thanks to that, we're able to explain that we come in peace, Sanji sweetening the deal with some leftover potato paella. The little girl introduces herself as Chimney, the bunny as their cat Gonbe (not gonna question that), and the older woman as Granny Kokoro. Nami asks for a bit more information about the train we just saw and Chimney says that it's a Sea Train called the Puffing Tom, the only one in the world, taking people, packages, and even ships from one island to another. Pretty efficient, I gotta say.

"You guys should be more careful!" Chimney says. "Didn't you hear the warning bells?"

"That's what that thing was for?" Usopp asks, pointing at the crossing sign. "How were we supposed to know?" Uh, I knew, but telling you would be just about impossible.

"If we couldn't figure it out, that frog sure wouldn't either." Luffy adds. "That was really rude of you to run into him like that."

"Oh, you mean Yokuzuna?" Chimney asks ( _that's_ his name; got it). "Don't worry he's pretty tough; and it wouldn't be the first time he's challenged the train and lost. He's kind of a pain." I knew it; all those scars are from the train.

"Ooooh!" Luffy exclaims. "I thought that frog was just being stupid, but he was just being super manly!"

"Easy for you to say! You don't have to put up with him all the time!" Chimney exclaims. Yeah, I imagine having a giant frog constantly ramming your train would get pretty annoying after a while.

"So, where are you heading next?" Granny Kokoro asks. "The train travels to a whole bunch of different islands around here."

Nami waves her hand, "Thanks, but we don't need to take the train since we have our own ship; we'll just follow the log."

"Where's it pointing to?" Chimney asks. "Somewhere east of here."

"In that case, you must be on your way to Water 7." Granny says. "They call it the City of Water; they got lots of great shipyards and are always building new ships for the government." My ears perk up; that certainly sounds like the kind of place we need right about now.

Luffy grins, "I bet that means they have some awesome shipwrights over there!"

Granny scoffs, "Some? More like damn near all of them! That place is like a shipwright convention!"

"Then it's settled!" Luffy proclaims. "We're gonna find the best shipwright there and get them to join our crew!" Sounds like a plan to me!

Granny gives us a map of the city as well as a reference letter that we should give to someone named Iceberg. She tells us that the Log won't reset for another week so we have plenty of time to hang around and explore. We thank her and set sail, a strong wind blowing us in the direction of Water 7.

I sit on the Merry's head as we sail while the others are talking about what kind of shipwright we may get. I find myself agreeing with Zoro, as we're both curious if we'll be able to find someone crazy enough to sail with pirates, or even just people like us in general. But first and foremost, we're all excited to get Merry all fixed up.

"These repairs sure bring back memories." Usopp says, touching the iron plates holding the mast together. "I'm almost sad to see them go, but it'll be worth it knowing that the Merry will finally be repaired."

"I agree." Sanji says. "I'm proud of her battle scars but she's taken a real beating; if we don't get her fixed soon we're as good as sunk."

"Yeah, but even then we still have plenty of money!" Luffy points out. "We can fix her, but also power her up! Make her stronger!"

"Yeah, like more cannons!" Usopp agrees.

I smile and look back ahead as a shape comes into view. It looks like an island. "Pika pika!" I call, pointing ahead.

Everyone joins me on the upper deck and we stare at the sight. The island gets bigger and our eyes widen as it becomes more clear. The place looks like it's one big city! And not only that; it looks like a giant fountain! There's water everywhere, creating canals all throughout the city! This is definitely the city of water!

Luffy joins me on the Merry's head, "Hey, let's take a ride on those water slides when we land!" He exclaims, pointing to the canals. My ears droop; those aren't water slides, and you of all people should not go on them! We also notice that there are big numbered gates surrounding the city and we also see the train station; Granny did mention that the Sea Train came from there.

"That reminds me…Pika-chan," Sanji speaks up, catching my attention. "You said you had seen the Sea Train before, right?"

I tilt my head and I shrug, "Pika pikachu; pika pi." _'I wouldn't say I've seen the **Sea** Train before, but I've seen trains before.'_

"I think it said it just knows what trains are." Chopper manages; close enough.

Sanji smiles, "Well even so, I think we just found another piece of your memory." He says. I blink and stare at him. "Trains aren't exactly common, but you know what they are; that means you must've come from somewhere with trains."

My eyes widen and a smile grows on my face; he's right! Holy crap, I can't believe I didn't realize it before! That must really narrow down the amount of islands on the Grand Line is trains are so uncommon! Granted, I'm pretty sure I'm not from Water 7, but it's a step in the right direction! I gotta remember to write this down!

I scamper below deck and do just that, and when I come back up, the Merry's sailing towards a rocky cape to dock. We drop anchor and Zoro folds the sails, but pulls on the rope a bit too hard, making the top half of the mast bend dangerously.

"Are you trying to break the ship?!" Usopp shrieks.

"No! I just pulled the rope like I always do!" Zoro responds, before slowly pushing the mast back upright, "If the Merry's falling apart this easily we're lucky we made it this far!" Well, at least now she can rest easy knowing that the next time she sails she won't be as fragile as glass anymore.

Nami, Luffy, and Usopp decide to take the gold to be cashed in and talk to Iceberg about repairs, and soon they're heading off with the gold in tow. "Aw...looks like I missed my chance to go with them." Chopper whines.

"You can come with me, if you like." Robin offers.

Chopper lights up, "Can we go to a bookshop?"

"Sure." Robin replies.

"Pika pikachu!" I pipe up, leaping on the railing.

"You want to come too?" Chopper asks.

"Chu!" I nod.

"Alright, then." Robin says with a smile.

We get ready and head out towards the city. I gotta say, this place looks so much bigger on the inside! There's people everywhere, all riding on some weird seahorse things with boats on their backs. Not to mention that shops seem to cover every square inch of this place. We wander around until we make it to the Backstreet Shopping district, according to the map.

We walk along the road when we catch the eyes of a few men, "Whoa! What a beautiful lady!"

"She's gorgeous!"

"A once-in-a-lifetime beauty!"

Chopper shudders, "This place is full of Sanji's."

I laugh at that; yeah, he's gonna fit right in here. We also notice that a bunch of people are wearing weird looking masks; maybe there's some kind of festival going on or something. We eventually reach a bookshop and we gaze through a window.

Robin's eyes fall on a cover and she smiles, "Look at that, Pikachu," She says, prompting me to jump on her shoulder. "That book is a follow-up to that Fairy Tale book I got you."

"Pika?" I ask excitedly; the first book Robin gave me was so good I couldn't put it down! I wonder what kind of stories this book has?

Robin giggles, seeing my excitement, "Maybe if we buy it we could read it together; how does that sound?"

"Pika pikachu!" I agree happily. Reading with Robin is the best!

"C'mon, let's go in already!" Chopper urges us.

"Chu!" I jump off Robin's shoulder and we start to move into the shop, when a large figure in a mask passes by us. My ears suddenly twitch and I turn around to see Robin completely frozen in place, her eyes wide.

I go towards her and tap her boot, "Pika?" _'Robin? You okay?'_

Robin blinks and looks behind her, but the masked figure is gone. That's weird; I swear we didn't see him turn…

"Hey! C'mon, you two!" Chopper calls.

Robin shakes her head, "Coming!"

We both venture into the shop and I head straight for the book in the window. The clerk sees me looking at it and smiles, "Does that one strike your interest?" She asks.

"Pika pika!" I say happily.

Chopper comes towards me in Heavy Point, "Is that the one you want, Pika-chan?"

"Chu!" I nod.

The clerk nods and takes the book off the stand ringing it up for us, and I put it in Chopper's backpack. "You don't want to read it now?" He asks.

I shake my head, "Pika pikachu!" _'I wanna wait for Robin; we're gonna read it together!'_

"Oh, okay." Chopper says, probably getting the basic gist. Wait...speaking of Robin… I look around the store, but I don't see her anywhere. I leap off Chopper while he peruses some medical books and do a quick sweep of the store; Robin's not here.

I step out of the store and look down the streets; no Robin. What the heck? Where is she? Robin doesn't just wander off like this when we're shopping, and if she does, she usually tells us. I feel concern creep up my spine as I glance back inside the shop before I start wandering down the street. There's no way she's lost; that's not like her.

But then...where did Robin go?

* * *

 **And thus, it begins...**


	92. Franky Family

**Whew! Sorry for the delay! Had to move out of my dorm and back home! Happy summer!**

* * *

I hated to leave Chopper without saying anything, but this feeling in my gut just won't go away. Something's been off every since we got here; I've constantly felt like something huge is looming over this whole place.

I take advantage of my small size and decide to search from the rooftops. I look through the streets, alleys, and on the Yagara boats, but there's no sign of Robin anywhere! Unfortunately, once I take a break, I realize that I am 100% lost; I have no idea where the hell I am! I ran into a huge bustling city that I'm unfamiliar with; dammit, I'm becoming more like Luffy every day!

At least I know Chopper can handle himself; maybe he'll run into her or one of the others. In fact, Robin can take of herself too; the girl was a double-agent for Crocodile and apparently a whole bunch more places, right? I shudder as Aokiji's words stick in my head, how we'd regret having Robin join our crew.

I shake my head; there's no way that's true! Maybe her past is super messed up, hell, all of us seem to have a running theme with shitty backstories, but there's no way Robin would ever throw us under the bus. If she did, she would've ditched us already, and I know that I wouldn't have a bond with her. A bond that's been getting stronger for the past week. I'm gonna find her, I _will_.

I walk along the edge of the rooftops for a while, coming to a more empty part of town, when my ears twitch. I look down into one of the alleys I'm near and I see a group of people all bunched together. They're surrounding something, and it looks like they're struggling.

"Damn, this guy's persistent!"

"C'mon, just give it up, Long-nose, this money is ours!"

I feel my heart freeze; no...they can't be-! I hear a strangled cry that I know anywhere as one of them stomps on something soft; Usopp!

I quickly run along the roof towards the group, sparks flying from my cheeks; I rain down a good number of bolts, trying to hit the outside of the group so I don't accidently hit Usopp. I feel my sense rise up, increasing my sight, smell, and hearing...just like on Jaya…

The guys become a clearer and I see they're all wearing weird armor that makes it look like they're wearing metal barrels and some kind of goggles. Are they some kind of gang?

The thugs all jump away from my bolts and I spy Usopp curled up on the ground, clutching a suitcase to his chest. Now that the thugs are in clearer view, I let them have stronger bolts, giving them some good burns seeing as they aren't exactly wearing shirts.

"What the hell is going on?!"

One of the thugs looks up at me and I growl loudly; his eyes widen in fear and he waves to his friends, "C'mon, grab the rest and let's get out of here!"

One of them gives Usopp one more hard kick to the back, making him release the suitcase he's holding, and they start to run. I send a few more bolts after them as I make my way down to the ground.

"Pika pika!" I yell, standing between them and Usopp, _'And don't come back!'_

"Pika-chan…"

I start and run back towards my fallen friend, "Pika!" I look him over in worry; he's completely beat up! He's bleeding in a few places and multiple bruises are forming! "Pika pikachu!" I whine.

"Where...where are they?" Usopp coughs.

"Chu." I point the way they ran.

"No…" Usopp grunts and starts to move, "They took...I gotta...find them…"

My eyes widen as he gets to all fours, "Pikachu!" I cry, placing my paws on his arm. He starts to crawl and I try to stop him, but he won't listen! "Pika pika pi pikachu!" _'Usopp, you gotta calm down, you're hurt!'_ I protest.

"Stop it!" Usopp hisses and pushes me away. He drags himself to his feet using the wall, "I have...to do this…"

"Pika…" _'Usopp…'_

"They took...the money…" He grounds out. "They took it...because I'm weak…"

 _'Usopp, that's not true-'_

"I won't be able...to face the others...if I don't get it back…" Usopp starts to walk a little straighter. "We need that money...for the Merry...don't try to stop me, Pika-chan…"

My eyes widen as he runs out of the alley; oh Arceus, he should not be running in that condition. "Pikachu!" _'Usopp, wait!'_

I run out the alley after him, only to realize that more people have shown up on the once empty street. I manage to follow Usopp's feet for a while, but it isn't long before I start nearly getting squished by the feet of strangers. People barely avoid stepping on me, forcing me to slow down so I don't run headlong into someone's legs.

"Pika! Pika!" I call out Usopp's name, but he's already gone; vanished into the city just like Robin! Dammit, two in one day! I can't let Usopp get that money back, at least not alone! I manage to get out of the crowd and climb back up to the rooftops, but that sadly doesn't help my looking for Usopp. How the hell did he manage to disappear so fast? This is what I get for not being in a lot of cities very often; I don't know if that's a memory tick or not, but I have no time to think about it!

"Luffy! Usopp!" My ears twitch at the familiar voice. "Where are you guys?!" Nami! That's Nami!

"Pika!" I call loudly when I see a head of red hair zooming across the water on a Yagara. "Pika! Pikachu!" _'Nami! Up here!'_

Nami stops the Yagara and looks around, "Pika-chan? Is that you?"

"Pikachu!" I wave with both paws, finally drawing her attention over to me. I quickly take a flying leap and dive into the water, paddling over to her quickly.

"Pika-chan, what are you doing out here all by yourself?" Nami asks as she helps me onto her boat.

"Pika pika! Pika pi, chu pikachu!" I say, moving and flailing about frantically.

"Whoa, calm down!" Nami exclaims. "What happened?" I begin the fastest game of charades I think I've ever done; I imitate Usopp being beaten up, the thugs that got him, and Usopp running off.

I don't know if Nami got all of it, but definitely picks up that I'm freaking out and Usopp is hurt and in danger. "Alright, hang on," She says, snapping the Yagara's reigns and making it zoom off. "We'll get the others from the ship and work out a plan."

I nod; that sounds good. And maybe Robin's already back too, and if not, we can also look for her.

I sit on Nami's lap as the Yagara speeds across the water, and I notice that she feels tense. "This day just keep getting better and better…" She mutters. "First the Merry...and now this…"

"Pika?" I look up at her in confusion; what about the Merry? Do we not have enough to repair her or something.

Nami looks at me, sees the confusion in my gaze and takes a deep breath, "The shipwrights took a look at the Merry." She says slowly. "And they...they said…"

"Chu?" _'What?'_ I prompt gently.

"The Merry can't be fixed." My eyes slowly widen and I stare at her in shock. Is...is she serious? We...we can't fix her? Even with all the money we have?!

"They said she's too badly damaged…" Nami says, her eyes hidden, "If we repaired her it'd be the same as building a brand new ship…"

I lower my head in sadness, my ears drooping. Deep down, I had a worry that the Merry couldn't be fixed, but now that I know it's real...It's almost too hard to believe! Sailing the rest of our voyage without the Merry? It's almost too hard to think about!

We make it back to the ship and to my dismay, only Sanji, Chopper, and Zoro are there, and they already heard from Zoro about the Merry. Nami and I catch them up about Usopp and make my charades a little clearer about how he left to go get the money back alone.

"Why would Usopp go by himself?" Chopper asks worriedly. I grit my teeth as I remember what he said to me.

"Maybe he felt responsible." Sanji suggests. I nod in confirmation; that's exactly what happened. Nami said that he was probably attacked by guys called the Franky Family, who dismantle ships but also are known for robbing people. Arceus, I hope he's okay.

Just then my ears twitch; do I hear screaming? And...is it getting closer?

We look up just in time to see a red blur falling from the sky before bouncing off land and into the ocean. One guess as to who it is. "Luffy!"

Sanji quickly gets Luffy out of the water and onto the ship. "What were you doing?" He asks.

"I was trying to do that soaring thing like one of the shipwrights to look for Usopp." Luffy answered in between pants and coughs.

"Are you okay?" Chopper asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine...oh yeah!" Luffy perks up. "Guys, Usopp got abducted and so did all the money!"

"We know." Sanji says. "We're just about to head to the base of the Franky Family; we think we'll find him there."

Nami agrees to stay on the ship just in case, while the rest of us head to the Franky House. It doesn't take us long to find it; it sticks out pretty well. But as we get closer, my nose twitches along with Chopper's. We smell blood in the air.

We arrive at the Franky House to find a crumbled figure lying before it. It's Usopp.

We all surround him and Chopper checks him over. He's bleeding way more than he was before, and he's completely covered in cuts, scrapes, and bruises, and that's only external injuries.

"Pikachu…" _'Usopp, you brave idiot…'_

"Is he breathing, Chopper?" Luffy asks lowly.

"Yes." Chopper says shakily, "He's unconscious but I can save him." I sigh lightly in relief; thank goodness. I step closer and I realize that Usopp's face is wet with tears; he must've fought so hard…

Luffy cracks his knuckles.

Zoro ties his bandana around his head.

Sanji lights his cigarette.

Chopper grits his teeth and snorts like a raging bull.

I catch my Muscle Band when Sanji pulls out of his pocket and tie it around my tail, sparks flying from my cheeks.

"Wait out here for us." Luffy says as we start to walk, me between Luffy and Zoro, "We're gonna level that house to the ground."

Time to show yet another group of idiots what happens when you mess with the Straw Hat pirates.

As luck would have it, someone opens the door right when we arrive, probably heading out to spend more of our money. Luffy immediately stretches his fist back and nails him right in the nose, sending him flying back into the house. We enter the house as the dust settles, all of us in fighting stances.

"I...I recognize them!" One of the guys yells out. "It's...it's Straw Hat Luffy!"

I inwardly grin as a bunch of them start to sweat and shake in fear; yeah they better be scared. I count about fifty or sixty of them; easy pickings.

"So you came to get your money back, huh?" One giant guy wearing armor on the top half of his body along with that round lower half armor walks towards us. "Do you really think that four of you and one tiny mouse can handle all of us?" These pricks don't even count me as a threat; now they're all gonna die.

"But since you're here, we may as well take those big bounties on your heads."

"Yeah, he's the captain of that long-nosed weakling we took care of earlier!"

"He can't be that tough!" Scratch that; now they're all gonna die, be brought back, and then killed again.

The giant faces Luffy, who glares at him. "Gum Gum…" He starts doing a Gum Gum Gatling, but his fists don't touch the armor. Everyone laughs, but Luffy keeps punching, building up speed with every one. Eventually, his arms turn red hot with speed, "...Canon!"

Luffy's fists all seem to come together in one giant blow, punching a hole right through the armor and sending the giant onto his back. All the Franky Family members scream. "He-He punched a hole right through it!"

"Hold on, guys!" One guy steps forward, holding his hands up fearfully, "L-Let's talk about this first!" We don't say anything, and the guys in the back raise their cannons.

Four cannonballs fly towards us and Zoro steps forward, pulling out his three swords. "Now Three-Sword Style! Karasuma Raven Hunt!" With a few well timed and swift slashes, all the cannonballs are cut cleanly in half. But Zoro doesn't stop there; he moves to one of the cannons and slices it right in half, causing the Franky Family to scream in terror once again.

"Quick, everyone run for the back door!" Someone yells. Pfft, typical.

Sanji quickly runs and leaps ahead of all of them, cutting them off as he balances on one of their faces with one hand. "You guys started this fight; pretty pathetic to run from it like cowards." Sanji starts to spin on his hand, "Party Table Kick Course!" All the Franky Family members near Sanji get a swift kick in the face.

"We-We can't make it to the back door!" Someone cries.

"Windows! Use the windows!" Another yells. They start to run but a giant furry figure blocks their way.

"Rumble! Horn Point!" Chopper morphs to all fours, his antlers growing huge. The Franky Family starts to run but Chopper charges right after them, "Roseo Colonade!" Chopper bucks and throws multiple men to the ground until there's only a good few left without injuries.

"Wait wait!" The same guy from before cries out. "This is about the money right?!" He starts babbling on about how they can't get the money back to us, but I've heard enough.

I run up to him and ready my Brick Break. I feel the band on my tail pulsate raw power into my extra limb as it begins to glow. I increase my speed, leap towards him, and give my tail a hard swing. The guy's armor completely shatters as I land behind him, my tail ceasing its glow and the pirate falls to the ground with a loud thump. I can almost hear Sandy through the silence. _'Nice hit, Tiny.'_

I glare at the rest of the Franky Family making them all shrink back in fear. "That's enough out of you bastards." Sanji growls. "This has nothing to do with the money."

"Damn straight." Zoro agrees. "It's too late for that."

Luffy clenches his fists, "Not even your bones will be left when we're done." I nod and snarl, teeth bared and sparks flying; I'm going to enjoy this.

"C-C'mon guys, we're the Franky Family!" Another guy yells out. "We're the ones who do the bone-breaking around here!"

We all look up as a giant cannon, bigger than all the others is rolled out into the open. They aim the huge cannon at us and I make my way back towards my crew. I stand in the middle of all of them before facing the cannon again.

"Now! Fire the Anything Shot Cannon!" The cannon fires and literally everything that you can imagine is flung towards us.

My eyes glow and I raise my Light Shield, surrounding all of us and easily blocking the attack. I don't even flinch; it just feels like someone's chucking a few plastic balls at me. The minute the canon is done, I drop my shield and we all race towards the pirates.

Canons fire, swords swing, and chaos soon envelops the whole house, filled with Luffy's punches, Zoro's swords, Sanji's kicks, Chopper's hooves, and my lightning. It isn't long before the house completely explodes.

* * *

A little while later, we sit among the rubble and fallen Franky Family members while Chopper treats Usopp. I'm almost disappointed that there leader Franky's not here. But rest assured, next time I see him, I'm not holding back.

"Should we go after Franky?" Sanji asks.

"And start looking where?" Zoro points out, tying his bandana back onto his arm.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Sanji admits. "Even if we did find him, if he spent the money, there's no getting it back.

"Yeah, and even if we wait for him, he probably won't be back for a while." Zoro agrees.

"Guys!" Chopper calls, "I've finished treating Usopp; we need to bring him back on a stretcher, so I need help!"

Sanji nods, "We better head back; we left Nami all by herself, Robin's still missing, and the issue with the ship is a problem too." He faces Luffy, who's standing on the highest point of rubble.

"I've made a decision," Luffy says, "about the ship." My ears perk up.

Luffy takes a deep breath, "It's time to part ways with the Going Merry. We'll say goodbye to her here."

* * *

 **Haaaaah...I am NOT looking forward to all the feels that are coming up next... :(**


	93. Duel

**Helmets on, kids; you know what's coming...**

* * *

I sit on the railing as the sun sets, staring at Water 7. Robin still isn't back yet; where the heck is she?! If she doesn't come back by the time the sun goes down, I'm going back there and looking for her myself!

Sanji's hand appears and gives me a reassuring pat, "Still worried about Robin?"

"Chu…" I say, my ears wilting.

"I know how you feel, but don't worry. Robin may be beautiful, but she's tough; I'm sure she'll be back soon." Sanji reassures.

I give him a little smile and Chopper suddenly emerges from the galley. "Hey! Usopp's finally awake!" I smile big; that's one weight of worry off my back! I scurry into the galley alongside Luffy and Chopper while the rest slowly file in.

Usopp's already sitting up, his legs folded, and he's shaking. My ears twitch and I make my way onto his makeshift bed; that beating from the Franky Family must've really shaken him in more ways than one.

I carefully put my paws on his leg as the others lightly scold him for the stunt he pulled. "I oughta punch you for scaring us like that." Nami remarks.

"No kidding; what were you thinking, taking on all those guys alone?" Sanji agrees.

"You can't just run off and fight whoever you want." Zoro added.

"Oh, that's rich, coming from you." Sanji can't help but snipe.

"Pika pika, pikachu pika." I say, nuzzling him, _'Next time, come get us; there's no shame in asking for help, you know.'_

"This wouldn't have happened if I was strong like you guys…" Usopp whimpers, tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry! It's all my fault!"

I hold my arms up offering a hug with a sad smile and Usopp scoops me up, just about crushing my spine and soaking me with tears. He babbles tearfully about how sorry he is and all I can do is pat his shoulder as he holds me.

"Pika…" _'There there…'_

"Take it easy." Chopper says worriedly, "You shouldn't be out of bed yet."

"Calm down and listen to the doctor." Nami agrees.

After a few minutes, Usopp's tears have stopped and he's sitting calmly on his bed, holding me on his lap, "So...is there any chance of getting our money back?" He asks slowly.

"Weeeell…" Luffy tilts his head, "Maybe, but we won't know for sure until that Franky guy comes back."

Usopp lowers his head, "I see…I'm sorry…"

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Luffy says encouragingly. "We still have 100 million berris left!"

"Yeah, but he lost twice that much!" Nami snaps. Luffy and I give her a look; really Nami? Time and place, please. "Sorry…" Nami says sheepishly.

"No, it's fine." Usopp says, giving me a soft pat. "More importantly...is Merry gonna be okay?"

My eyes widen; oh boy...this isn't going to be pretty…

"We're lucky that we have all these shipwrights to work on her, but it's gonna get rough out there, so we need her to be stronger than ever!"

My ears slowly start to droop while everyone else grows tense.

"Did you talk to them about it? Can they still do a good job if we only pay 100 million?"

"Uh, yeah, we talked to them." Luffy says. "But...we're not gonna have them repair it, we're gonna buy a brand new ship." I take a baited breath as Usopp's eyes widen.

"I know we probably should've asked you first, but we didn't have much choice." Luffy keeps going. "But I've made up my mind; the Merry's taken good care of us up to this point, and it's finally time to say goodbye to her."

Usopp stays silent as Luffy shows Usopp the catalog that the shipwrights gave them, listing deals for new and used models. I look up at him anxiously as I feel waves of denial coming off him; this isn't going to end well.

"Hold on." Usopp holds up his hands. "I get Luffy, the joke's gone on long enough."

We all stay quiet and our faces fall; this is almost unbearable. "Wait…" Realization dawns on Usopp's face, "Do we...not have enough money for the repairs?! It's because I lost the money, isn't it?!" He stands up, prompting me to jump to the ground. "I mean, a first-class shipyard is gonna cost a lot, right?! That's what this is about?!"

"Would you calm down and listen to me!" Luffy says loudly.

"What is it?! Just tell me, don't sugarcoat it!" Usopp yells. My eyes grow scared and I take a few steps back.

"I'm not sugarcoating anything! The money doesn't matter anymore!" Luffy yells.

"If that's true, then what's all this crap about buying a new ship?!" Usopp demands, his eyes blazing.

"Both of you, stop it!" Zoro barks, taking a step forward. "Fighting isn't going to help!"

"What am I doing wrong?! He's the one saying all this dumb stuff!" Usopp bites back, still glaring at Luffy.

"I know you're upset, but you need to try to calm down!" Nami tries.

"Listen to Nami, Usopp; if you don't rest you're not gonna get better!" Chopper urges.

"Who cares about me?!" Usopp stands up straighter, "How can you all just sit here while he's making jokes about buying a new ship?!" I bite my lip and take another step back.

"I'm not joking about anything, this was a hard decision for me too!" Luffy yells.

"Oh yeah, I feel real sorry for you!" Usopp mocks, before swiping the catalog out of Luffy's hands, "Already window shopping for a new toy!" I squeak as he throws it to the ground. "I don't want your damn pity! If the money doesn't matter then why are you talking about getting a new ship?! Just spit it out already!"

Luffy grits his teeth and a wave crashes on the shore as he says those haunting words.

"The Merry can't be repaired."

The room suddenly seems a lot darker as the sun is almost gone from the sky. Usopp shakes madly, his face white with disbelief, "W...What?" He rasps.

"Don't make me repeat myself." Luffy grounds out. "No matter what we do we...we can't fix her. The Going Merry can't be repaired anymore; I wouldn't let us get a new ship if it weren't true." I bite my lip, my eyes hidden from view. It's just as hard hearing that statement a second time, but I understand that it's what needs to be done.

Usopp falls to his knees, "You mean this ship?" He hits the floor with his hands, "This ship is broken?!"

"That's right." Luffy says firmly, "It's only a matter of time until she sinks." He's right. And sailing her on until she sinks just seems cruel; we should let her be at peace here instead of running her into the ground.

Usopp's face tightens with anger, "What are you talking about? That's nuts!"

"It's true; the shipwrights took a look at the Merry themselves." Luffy says. "They said she won't even hold out until the next island."

"So that's it?" Usopp mutters. "A bunch of strangers tell you to scrap your ship and you don't ask any questions?"

Luffy's eyes narrow, "That's enough." He warns.

"I know those guys know what they're talking about, but this...this is just wrong!" Usopp looks up at Luffy. "Don't give up on the Merry! What about all the adventures we had together, the battles we fought?! The Merry is our friend, she's one of us and you want to abandon her without a second thought?!" Usopp's words seem to echo all around us.

Usopp winces and lets out a few coughs from pain, prompting Chopper to step forward, "I know you're upset right now Usopp, but you need to settle down now."

Usopp pulls away from him, "No...I'm not backing down until we settle this."

"Pika…" _'Usopp…'_

"So what, you know better than the shipwrights?" Luffy challenged. "If we had someone on the crew who actually knew about this stuff we wouldn't have asked them in the first place!"

"Then forget them!" Usopp spits. "We don't need those guys telling us what to do!" I bite my lip; I've never seen Usopp act like this before! Usopp starts to stand up, "I'll just repair the Merry myself, like I always do; we've made it this far so we'll be fine. I'll start right now." He starts crawling on all fours, "C'mon guys, help me out."

"That's not gonna work." Sanji says, a slight tremor in his voice.

"That's right, we don't have enough lumber." Usopp says. "I better go buy some from the shipyard; we have a lot of work to do."

"You're not a shipwright, Usopp!" Luffy yells.

"Luffy!" Nami exclaims.

"Yeah, I know, but so what?!" Usopp snaps back. "Why are you still so hung up on what those shipwrights said?! They just want your money; if they knew what Merry went through they wouldn't give up on her!"

Now Usopp's being completely unreasonable; he's grasping at straws to justify this! I reach shakily towards him, "Pika-"

"The Merry's our ship, so it's our job to take care of her! I won't let them take the Merry away from me!" Usopp yells, making me flinch back.

"I can't believe this...you got fooled by a bunch of salesmen trying to pawn off a used boat?! The Luffy I know would believe in the strength of the Merry and his crew!" He goes over and grabs Luffy by the front of his vest. "I can't believe that's the kind of captain you turned out to be! I thought you were better than that!"

Nami steps forward, "You're not being fair, Usopp!"

"Stay out of this!" Luffy says, holding an arm out. "It was my call, and I stand by it!" He glares at Usopp, "We're getting new ship whether you like it or not; this is the end of the road for the Merry!"

"I'm not leaving her here!" Usopp yells, pulling Luffy closer, "I know you're always trying to think about the future, but not everyone on this crew is like that! The Merry's one of our friends and I'm not gonna abandon her when she's hurt!"

"Don't be stupid!" Luffy swats Usopp's hands away, "Even if she is a friend that doesn't mean she's a person!"

"She is to me, and she still has the strength to live! But all you care about is buying a new ship!"

I crouch down and cover my ears, squeezing my eyes shut as I faintly hear Sanji step forward, trying to break them up.

I flinch as Luffy shoves Usopp to the ground, gripping his overalls tightly, "Would you listen to yourself?! Don't act like you're the only one torn up about this; we all feel the same way!"

"If that was true then you wouldn't be getting a new ship!"

"Pika…" _'Stop…'_

"Alright, fine!"

 _'Please, don't…'_

"If you don't like the way your captain does things-"

 _'No, please…!'_

"-then why don't you go ahead and get-"

CRASH!

I flinch and open my eyes to see Luffy lying in the shattered remains of the table, Sanji's leg in the air. "This is going way too far…" Sanji growls, breathing deeply, "What the hell's the matter with you?! If you don't watch it, you're gonna say something you can't take back!"

I hear Sanji's footsteps quickly approach me and feel him gently pick me up. "Pika-chan? ...Hey Pika-chan, look at me, deep breaths." I shakily look up at him, doing as he says. "That's it, deep breaths." He soothes, Nami coming over and gently patting me.

"Sorry…" We turn as Luffy sits up from the wreckage, "I don't know what I was thinking…" He says lowly. "I'm sorry Pika-chan, I didn't mean to make you upset." I give him a small nod in acceptance; I don't blame him.

"So that's how you really feel, huh?" We all look at Usopp as he slowly sits up. "Just get rid of your dead weight and move on before it can slow you down."

"That's not true!" Luffy exclaims. "No, I get it." Usopp growls. "If you're gonna throw away the Merry...might as well throw me away too."

I feel like something just struck me through the heart. Sanji presses me closer, "I know you're pissed off, but don't say stupid crap like that."

"No, I've been thinking about this for a while now…" Usopp says solemnly. "Things aren't like they were before; you guys are just too strong for me...I can't keep up anymore. Just look at what happened today; you can't even trust me with your money. There's no point in keeping me around if all I do is cause you trouble"

Usopp stands up straight, "Luffy, I still believe you'll be King of the Pirates someday, but as for me...I'm just lucky I was able to make it this far. There's no sense in traveling together if we don't even have the same goal!" Usopp moves towards the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Sanji demands.

Usopp opens the door, "Wherever I go...it's my business."

I slide down from Sanji's quickly weakening arms, my eyes wide with fear.

"Sorry guys, but I'm leaving the crew; this is goodbye."

My mind just about goes numb as Usopp seems to leave in slow motion, Nami, Chopper and Sanji starting to give chase until the door closes. I stare at the door as my mind tries to process what just happened. I hear Nami try to talk Luffy into going after him before she, Sanji and Chopper go themselves.

I sit on the ground, staring blankly ahead as I hear Nami, Sanji, and Chopper at the railing, almost pleading for Usopp to stay. For some reason, my eyes stay dry; why am I not crying? Am I just too in shock? Or does it have something to do with the way Usopp just threw us away?

A few moments later, Luffy picks me up and he and Zoro carry me to where the others are standing. I watch from Luffy's grip as Usopp slowly walks away from the ship, Luffy staring at his back with hard eyes.

When Usopp is a good enough distance away, he stops walking, "Luffy, I'm sorry I can't follow you anymore." He says loudly. "And I'm sorry I was such a pain until the bitter end."

Luffy's grip on my tightens and I start shaking again; does he really think that?

"I know you're the Captain of this ship, so the Merry belongs to you." Usopp faces us. "That's why...I want you to fight me." Everyone blinks in confusion; no...he's not seriously suggesting…!

"Monkey D. Luffy…" Usopp locks eyes with Luffy. "I challenge you to a duel!"

"Wha...What are you saying?" Nami asks weakly.

"At ten o'clock tonight, I'll be back, so you better be ready, Captain!" Usopp says. "I can't stop you from destroying your own ship, but if I win, I'm taking the Merry and leaving!"

I can feel anger and conflict coming from Luffy in tidal waves, but it's Usopp's last words that drive a dagger through me.

"Either way, when this is over...the bond between us will be broken."

I stay limp and numb in Luffy's arms as Usopp turns and walks away, vanishing in the distance.

* * *

Nami rubbed her arms as she climbed out from the Men's Quarters. She had just tried multiple times to get Luffy to back down, but his answer was clear and firm: "No turning back, now."

Nami sighed and her gaze was drawn up to the Crow's Nest. She climbed up and her face fell as she found Pika-chan curled up on the ground. She hadn't seen the mouse in the Men's Quarters with Luffy, so she figured it would be here.

She knelt next to it and hesitantly reached towards it, "Pika-chan?" She called. She gently pet its back, and the mouse made no move to move away. She wanted to ask if it was okay, but the answer was already pretty clear.

"Do...do you want to talk?" She asked gently.

Pika-chan slowly shook its head, not looking at her.

Nami swallowed, "Do you want to be alone?"

Pika-chan nodded.

Nami gave the mouse one more pat, "Okay...we'll be in the galley if you need us."

Pika-chan nodded again; at least it was responding to her.

Nami climbed back down to the main deck and entered the galley where Zoro and Sanji were arguing yet again. She growled under her breath; how could they be having their stupid petty arguments after everything that just happened?!

"Both of you, shut up!" She snapped loudly, making them both flinch. "There's been enough fighting for one day...you know how Pika-chan feels about that."

Sanji's face fell at the mention on his partner, "How is Pika-chan?" He asked.

"What do you expect?" Nami asked bitterly. "Not as bad as before, but it won't talk to anyone...the poor thing must be devastated."

The door then opened and Chopper entered, his head low. He had gone after Usopp in an attempt to heal his remaining wounds. "Usopp turned me away." He said in a shaky voice. He sat on the ground, "He found a place to stay, so at least he can get some rest...but do you know what he said to me?" Tears came to the reindeer's eyes, "He said we aren't friends anymore, so I should leave him alone and go back to the ship."

Nami sat down; she felt a bit relieved that Pika-chan wasn't here to hear that. "Just this morning we were all so happy…and now look at us." She said sadly. "We lost Usopp...Robin's still missing...Pika-chan won't talk to us…"

Nami bit her lip. "I feel like if we don't do something...the whole crew is going to fall apart."

* * *

I sit on the head of the Merry as the stars in the sky seem nonexistent. The time is almost here. Luffy's already standing a good ways away from the Merry on land, facing the empty land before us. The place is completely silent as the wind howls; why does weather always seem to mimic the mood at times like this?

"Listen up!" Luffy calls back to us. "I don't want any of you leaving the ship!"

I clench my paws and start shaking, my pulse in my ears. The moment Usopp appears, I know that there's no way I'll be able to watch this. I shake away flashes of That Island; I'm not risking that happening again!

I bolt away and quickly scamper below deck, making sure the porthole is tightly shut behind me. I leap onto Sanji's hammock and lie down on the pillow and it isn't long until I hear noises outside. I curl up under the blankets on Sanji's hammock, covering my ears and squeezing my eyes shut to keep out the sounds of fighting.

I hear bombs exploding, rubber stretching, yelling, screaming, and all coming from people I love. A giant explosion then rocks the boat and I curl even tighter as more noises from my head are added to Luffy and Usopp's symphony of violence.

I can hear men and women running, I can hear children screaming, I can see red flames behind my eyelids and hear explosions and buildings collapsing. I've had these visions before; it's something big that I've forgotten, something important.

I remember Sandy's words from Skypiea, how my mind isn't remembering everything because of how fragile it is. If Luffy and Usopp fighting is enough to nearly make me have a meltdown, I'm finally starting to see that he was right. And these visions of destruction have something to do with it, I know it. What could've possibly happened to make me so easily shaken by things like this?

I keep my eyes closed and stay under the blanket as the noises continue for what feels like forever until they finally die down. I allow my head to emerge, but still keep my ears covered; please tell me it's over… I sit in silence for what feels like forever, waiting with baited breath as the screams from my memory still echo loudly around me.

"Pika-chan." I flinch as someone picks me up and I look up to see Sanji. My thoughts go quiet again as he sits on the hammock, me on his lap.

We sit in silence, me clinging to his shirt and him gently stroking my head. He doesn't say anything about the duel, or who won or lost and that's fine. I don't care who won; all that this fight has done is rip my family apart! Why? Why did this have to happen to us?! I love everyone here, I love Usopp and I love Merry! Why are we fighting over this?! Why can't we all just compromise and move on?! Why can't Usopp understand that there's literally nothing we can do for Merry?!

I start to shake and Sanji looks down at me. "Hey, look at me." I slowly lift my head and do as he says.

Sanji's face is solemn but he's emanating waves of sadness and anger. He puts his hand on my head. "It's okay." he says calmly. "We'll get through this." He locks eyes with me, "You just have to keep it together."

Keep it together…

I take a deep breath, swallow and nod, ceasing my shivers. Sanji's right. This is the reason that I lost it on That Island. I can't keep thinking that everything's going to be okay all the time, that's not how life works. Just because this is happening, it doesn't mean that it's the end of the world. Having a breakdown won't solve anything. I just have to keep it together...

Keep it together…

I press my face into Sanji's vest and he hugs me back tightly. I can tell he's just as torn up about this as the others, but he came down to make sure I was okay. You really are the best partner and friend I could ever ask for Sanji…

After a few more moments, Sanji gets up, still holding me as the others enter, "C'mon, we have to pack our things."

I suck in a soft breath and nod, jumping down from his grasp. I tie my Muscle Band around my tail and gather my belongings, though few I had. My stuffed crocodile...my two journals and pencils...my vest...my bag of dummy ammo...my fairytale books...

I sigh sadly as I stare at the cover of the new one I had gotten today; Robin and I haven't gotten to read this together yet.

A lump comes to my throat as my eyes fall on my training dummy. The Special Edition Usopp Training Dummy…

Zoro picks it up with ease, tucking it under his arm while Sanji gathers up my things and places them in a bag with his own things, leaving me my Muscle Band and my crocodile toy. It's not like I can really carry anything.

While the others get ready, I decide this is as good a time as any to get one last look at this old place. I climb out and stand on the main deck, giving it a good look over before moving to every area, holding my toy close to my chest. The lounge, storage, the galley, the girl's room, and I eventually find myself at the helm.

This ship has been my home for so long...and now I have to move on. We have to get a new home now; if only it was under better circumstances. If only we all agreed that it was time to move, instead of fighting and destroying the bonds we hold so dear.

I leap onto the Merry's head and lie down, staring blankly ahead before closing my eyes, my cheek resting on my crocodile. I just can't believe this happened in such a short time...and over Merry of all things!

 **"It's alright…"**

I open my eyes.

 **"I'm sorry I've caused all this...you all shouldn't fight over me."**

I know that voice… This should be impossible, but...for some reason, I'm not surprised to hear it again. This is the voice that was there for me back when when we left That Island; the voice that comforted me when no one else did; the voice whose presence I sometimes barely felt but usually brushed off.

 _'So you can talk…'_ I say softly. _'That was you I heard back then…'_

 **"Things can come to life...if they are loved...you and I are very alike in that way, Little Mouse."**

I frown slightly at the strange nickname but don't press it. So Usopp was right...Merry really is alive. _'Alike; how?'_ I can't help but ask.

 **"You and I don't have a voice among the others…"** Merry answers. **"But sometimes our voices can be heard...because we're loved…"**

My ears perk up as I remember the times back on Drum and Little Garden, when it seemed that Sanji and sometimes the others could understand me. Could that be why? Is it because...I'm loved?

I sigh, _'I'm sorry we have to replace you…'_ I say.

 **"It was bound to happen…"** Merry answers. **"I wanted to carry everyone just a little further…"**

 _'You did what you could.'_ I reassure her. _'You went through a lot; Reverse Mountain, The Grand Fall, Sky Island…'_ I smile at the memories. _'You kept going through it all; you really are a trooper.'_

 **"As you've said before…"** Merry says; I can almost hear a smile in her voice. **"I'm going to miss you all…"**

I swallow, _'I'm gonna miss you too…'_

"Pika-chan." I turn to see Sanji standing by the railing, his possessions in hand. The others have already climbed down onto dry land. "Time to go."

I nod and turn away, my paws tensing over Merry's worn but still smooth head. **"Are you going to be alright?"** Merry asks.

I hesitate for a moment, taking a shaky breath, _'I'll be fine.'_ I say softly. I give the main deck one last glance, blinking back my tears.

 _'Goodbye, Merry.'_

 **"Goodbye, Little Mouse."**

I leap from Merry's head and onto the rocks and quickly catch up with the others, being careful not to look back at Usopp or the Merry. I squeeze my crocodile to my chest, gripping it as tightly as I possibly can.

A chilly wind sweeps through the area, making my band flap like a flag of defeat as I trail behind my friends.

* * *

 **GOD! WHY IS WATER 7 SUCH A FEELS TRIP?!**

 **And now you know who that voice was in Movie 6 if you didn't know before X3**

 **And speaking of, all of Pika-chan's objects were presents it got for its birthday in 'Perks of the Smallest' in case you didn't know.**


	94. Framed

**Sorry for the lateness my lovelies! My muse kept getting away from me and work has been getting to me! But here we are! Enjoy!**

* * *

I have no idea how I was able to get to sleep last night. I think it helped that Sanji stayed with me for a while, and I guess he left when I fell asleep cause the next thing I knew, it was morning. No one else was in our room; guess they all couldn't sleep. Can't really blame them. I get up and stretch before going to the window.

The city looks like it's just waking up. I had been hoping that Robin would show up, but no such luck. Where is she?! Does this city just eat people up?! I can't just sit here while Robin's out there all alone! I know she's strong physically, but I just have the worst feeling in my gut that something's wrong!

I start to open the window when the door opens. "Hey partner." Sanji greets, holding a small bag of groceries. I give him a slight glance and continue opening the window. "Are you going out?" Sanji asks.

I nod, "Pikachu." _'I'm gonna look for Robin.'_

"Do you wanna look for Robin?" Sanji asks. I nod again, too agitated to be annoyed by lack of understanding. "Alright," Sanji says. "I'm probably gonna go out and look for her too; if anything happens, come right back here and tell us, okay?"

"Chu." I nod and scurry out the window. I easily leap and scale the rooftops and windows but as I climb, I realize that there's quite a commotion going on at ground level. Everyone's moving about rapidly and reading the newspaper; what's going on?

"Extra extra! Read all about it!" A paper boy goes around, throwing more papers into the air, "Iceburg, beloved mayor and hero of Water 7, has fallen victim to the hands of an assassin!"

My ears twitch; assassin?! My mind flashes briefly to the past.

 _'What's your specialty?'_

 _'Killing.'_

I shake my head; that can't be true! I need more info! I quickly snatch one of the papers from the air and perch myself on a rooftop for some peace and quiet. I peruse the article and take in the picture of the man on the front page. Iceburg was his name, right? I think I remember Luffy and Nami talking about him; he's the one who they talked to about fixing the Merry. And he's also the mayor of Water 7 AND the boss of the massive shipwright company?! No wonder the city's going nuts!

My ears twitch as I pick up the random statements of people's theories on who did it. "Only pirates would pull a stunt this low!"

"No way, I'm telling you, Franky did it!"

"Yeah, letting a maniac like that run loose? It was only a matter of time!"

"But what about those pirates messing around Dock 1 yesterday?"

"You mean the Mikazuki Gang?"

"There was also a big explosion at the cape last night; think it's connected?"

I tune the voices out and let my paper fly away in the breeze; I have to find Robin. Maybe this chaos will help me weed her out better. I keep leaping from rooftops, scanning the ground and water and smelling the air for her scent for a good while when a loud siren rings through the air. I stop and cringe from the loud noise when a voice follows.

 **"Your attention please! This is the Water 7 Weather Forecasting Center. As of a now, a sever Aqua Laguna Weather Warning has just been issued for the entire island. It's arrival time is estimated for tonight between midnight and twelve thirty. Please gather your belongings and remember to evacuate to higher ground. Thank you."**

I frown as I process the words; there's a storm coming tonight? One that's so bad we all have to evacuate to higher ground? Well that certainly puts a time limit on my searching time; I only have until midnight to find some clue of where Robin went!

I keep searching and I'm suddenly interrupted by a loud crash. I can't help but sigh in slight relief as I run towards the noise; where there's chaos, there's a Straw Hat pirate!

I end up on another roof and find quite a big crowd gathered; shouldn't expect anything less. To my disappointment, Robin's nowhere to be seen, but I can see Luffy and Nami, and quite a number of people I've never seen before. Luffy looks pretty beaten up; not terribly, but not just anyone can knock Luffy around.

"Damn, you guys are strong…!" Luffy remarks. "C'mon, could you at least tell me why we're fighting?!" Oh boy, if Luffy doesn't know why he's in a fight, then something's definitely up.

A blonde guy with a cigar and a coil of rope in his hands steps forward, "I think we're the ones who deserve an explanation." He says gruffly. "Someone broke into Iceburg's house last night and shot him five times; and they were from your crew!"

I suck in a breath in pure shock; no, that...that can't be right! Luffy, Nami, and Usopp are the only ones who really met the guy, and they wouldn't hurt a fly! And everyone else was accounted for and we've all been together except for-! ...Oh no…

"Two people broke into Iceburg's room and he described them." The cigar guy says. "One was a tall guy wearing a mask, and the other was a woman with long black hair; Nico Robin."

I start to shake in disbelief; this can't be right! Not Robin! Robin would never do something like that! And what about the other person with her?! Who was he and why was Robin with him?! He must've shot Iceburg, he must've! Maybe Robin was trying to stop him or something! That has to be it!

"If you scumbags went after Iceburg once, there's no telling if you'll do it again," Cigar Guy says. "So we're gonna settle this now."

I flinch as a guy with a weird orange jacket and a long nose throws a caulking knife right at Luffy, grazing his cheek, "The government doesn't care whether you're dead or alive," He says. "This is what it means to have a bounty on your head."

Luffy slowly gets to his knees, "Let me talk to Ice-Pops," He says. "This has to be a mistake!"

"We'd be fools to let you anywhere near him!" A guy with a mustache says. The crowd starts to cheer and call for them to be sent to the gallows, when my ears twitch.

"Hey! Let me go!"

I look to see Nami being held in a headlock by a random guy, "I saw you with that Straw Hat guy earlier! You must be one of the criminals!" He yells, as other people help to hold Nami. I growl and grit my teeth, sparks flying from my cheeks; no one picks on Nami when she's weaponless!

I leap down from the roof and zoom towards the crowd, increasing my speed as my senses rise. I reach Nami in no time and leap into the fray, tail at the ready. With a few good quick slaps and kicks I knock Nami's attackers away. Nami's legs fold under her as I land and I bring up my Light Shield, glaring at the onlookers, "Pika pika!" I snarl. To my surprise, people actually start backing away. I almost wish I could look at myself when I feel like this, cause I must look pretty scary.

"Pika-chan!" Nami exclaims softly.

Luffy smiles in relief and faces his opponents once again. Nami and I watch as the group team up on our Captain, using impeccable teamwork to keep Luffy on his toes; these guys really don't mess around! "Geez, these shipwrights mean business." Nami comments, still on the ground and safely inside my shield. Whoa, these guys are shipwrights? You mean they fix and build ships, and they can fight?! Get guys who can do both, I guess. "Dammit, I was here first!" My ears twitch and I turn to see a large guy wearing a tropical shirt, a speedo, and a blue pompadour...wow, someone wants attention. Blue Pompodour flips a random table nearby, "Get out of my way, Galley-La!"

"Calm down, Franky," Long Nose says. "We're almost done and then you can fight us to your heart's content."

Wait, this big guy is Franky?! As in the leader of the gang who beat up Usopp?! My eyes widen as he connects his giant arms with a metal t-bar; wait, is this guy a human? He can't be, humans can't connect their limbs like that! Franky raises his arms, positioning the t-bar so the opening is facing Luffy and Galley-La.

Air suddenly begins to be sucked into the t-bar, making his arms grow even bigger. "Don't expect any cannons to come out of here; the shells I fire are made of pure air!"

Okay, humans _definitely_ can't do that, not even Devil Fruit users, I think! His arms inflate bigger and bigger and my eyes widen; I don't like the idea of Luffy getting caught in that!

I drop my shield around Nami and zoom towards Luffy as Franky starts to unleash his attack, "Coup...de...Vent!"

I reach Luffy and throw up my Light Shield just as a huge wall of air slams into us. I hear metal and wood breaking from the sheer force of the air and hear the yells of the Galley-La company. I'm forced against Luffy's chest as we're blown a good ways along the ground, and it feels like an eternity before it finally ends. Once it does, Luffy's sitting on the ground and I slump in his lap.

"Whoa, that was so cool!" Luffy exclaims. "Thanks for the shield, Pika-chan, that thing is so...Pika-chan?"

Luffy picks me up just as my vision starts to go in and out. "Are...okay…?" Is what I can make out; he's asking if I'm okay. Short answer: No, I'm not okay. Long answer: I feel like Sanji just gave me a Bad Manners Kick Course to the face, and it doesn't feel pleasant. At all.

I feel Luffy hold me with one arm while he runs over to Nami. They exchange a few words before Luffy stretches his arm and slings onto the rooftops with us in tow. I feel Luffy leap across a few more rooftops before he finally stops.

By then, my head starts to clear as I feel Nami take me from Luffy and cradle me in her arms. "What's wrong with Pika-chan?" Nami asks.

"I dunno; it used it's shield to protect me but it still got hurt for some reason." Luffy responds.

"Chu…" I moan softly, holding my head and blinking the spots away from my vision. Nami frowns lightly; something tells me she figured out that my shield isn't an invincible force. Nami helps me sit up and I look around to see where we are. We're on a roof, obviously, and we're looking down at a building that's surrounded by reporters and a bunch of tough guys holding weapons.

"If that's not Galley-La HQ, I don't know what is." Nami says. "Those tough guys are probably shipwrights; Iceburg's gotta be in there." Luffy nods silently, pinching the brim of his hat. "You sure about this?" Nami asks.

"Of course I am." Luffy answers. "The only way to find out what happened between Iceburg and Robin is to ask him myself."

"Pika...pikachu!" I say, making myself stand up straight.

"You wanna come too?" Luffy asks.

"Chu." I nod, leaping onto his shoulder; I need to know what's going on too.

"I know I can't stop you." Nami sighs. "But remember, everyone on this island is trying to hunt us down, so try to be careful."

"Kay, I'm off." Luffy stands abruptly and I instinctively tighten my grip as he stretches and grabs the closest window; we're going Luffy style.

"What, no!" Nami yells as Luffy and I sling towards the building. I close my eyes and cling to Luffy's back to avoid the glass as it shatters, and chaos instantly ensues. I hear the shipwrights all yelling and running through the hallways as Luffy simply runs aimlessly.

"Any idea where Ice-Pops is?" Luffy asks me.

"Pika pika?!" _'How would I know?!'_

Luffy keeps climbing stairs and running through hallways, avoiding large mobs of armed shipwrights, who are waving their weapons and even firing pistols. Geez, isn't Iceburg resting? Why do they have guns in here? We keep running when more shipwrights cut us off. Luffy reacts by jumping off the railing towards another, nearby. Luffy and I scan the floor as it's covered with people.

"Whoa, that's a lot of shipwrights!" Luffy remarks.

"Pika!"

Luffy reaches another hallway, a bullet barely missing us and he keeps running. "Luffy, wait!"

Luffy skids to a halt and looks up to an upper part of the room we're in. A lady with light brown hair and glasses is standing up there, looking at us. "It's you!" Luffy exclaims through puffs of air.

"This way, quickly!" The lady says, gesturing for us to follow. Luffy stretches up to her and does as she says, leading us through a series of empty hallways until we reach a large pair of double doors.

"Iceburg is inside," She says. "He's expecting you; but do try to keep quiet and not cause a commotion."

My eyes widen; this was way easier than I expected. "Thanks." Luffy nods and we enter the room.

The room is large and dimly lit and our eyes fall on a large bed lying right near the door. A man is sitting up in it, bandages on his head and his body; this must be Iceburg. "Well, hello Pirate Boy." He says, his voice just a touch weak from his injury but still carrying authority. "Judging by the angry mob out there, I assume you didn't break in here just to murder me?"

"All I want is to hear your side of the story!" Luffy protests.

Iceburg nods, "Last night, I saw Nico Robin here, without a doubt." Both Luffy and I freeze, our eyes wide. "I have nothing against any of you, so I have no reason to lie."

"Are...Are you sure it wasn't someone who looked like her?" Luffy tries, desperately grasping for straws.

"Shut up and listen." Iceburg says sharply, pulling a pistol out from under the covers and aiming at us.

I instinctively growl, sparks emerging. "Pika-chan, wait." Luffy says softly, putting a hand on my head to calm me.

"I didn't call you in here to bicker about who did what." Iceburg says. "I have a favor to ask, and it's in your best interest to grant it." He pauses, pulling the hammer on the pistol back. "No matter what it takes, I need to see Nico Robin again, one last time."

Luffy's silent as his eyes narrow, "Sorry, but that's not possible," He says. "We have no idea where she is."

Iceburg clenches his jaw, "Then you're of no use to me."

The pistol fires and Luffy leaps back as it hits the floor near his feet. Without a word, Luffy zooms towards the window and leaps out just as the lady from before comes in. Luffy makes it back to the same roof where Nami is waiting and he stares at the building.

"Well, Luffy?" Nami prompts. "Did you find Iceburg? What did he say?"

"He said it was Robin; no doubt about it." Luffy answers.

"No way…" Nami breathes, "Why...Why would she do something like that?!"

Luffy grips his hat, "I refuse to believe it!" He growls.

"Pika!" I agree with a nod; there's no way Robin would kill someone like Iceburg! I drop off Luffy's shoulder and gaze at the city below me; Robin's in this city somewhere, and she may seem calm on the outside, she's probably really scared deep down. We've gotta find her! "Pika, pika pikachu." I say, pointing down to the city.

"Hm?" Luffy looks at me, "You wanna go down there?"

I nod and do a light imitation of Robin and looking. "I think it wants to keep looking for Robin." Nami says, earning another nod from me.

"Okay," Luffy says. "Just don't get caught; be careful."

"Meet us back at the hotel if you find anything." Nami adds. I give a small salute and start making my way down the building. A few seconds later I hear Nami shriek and I look to see Luffy leaping off the building with her. Well, at least they can get around fast.

I make my way closer to the ground before leaping from rooftops again, scanning, listening, and smelling for any sign of Robin. As I search, I notice that the wind is picking up and less and less people are outside. You'd think that would making it easier to find Robin, but still no luck!

Although, with all these people gone, I could look from the ground; maybe that will help me lock on to Robin. I get to the ground and start running along a canal when my ears twitch as a figure comes into view across the canal. Tall, skinny, long hair...could it be?!

"Pika?!" _'Robin?!'_

I keep my eyes trained on the figure as I draw closer when I slam into something.

"Ow, what- Pika-chan?" I look up to see Chopper in Walk Point standing over me.

"Pika!" I exclaim.

We don't dwell on each other for long as we both turn at the same time to see Robin across the canal. I faintly hear Sanji join us as we stare at her until we snap out of our shock.

"Robin!"

"Pika!"

"Robin, where have you been?!" Sanji exclaims. "Everyone's worried, we've been looking all over for you! A lot's happened since you've been gone; we'll explain everything on the way back to the inn."

"Don't bother; it's alright." Robin says coldly. "There's no need, because I won't be returning to you and your crew." My eyes widen in fear as memories of Usopp flash in my mind; no...don't tell me…

"We're parting ways; this is goodbye."

"Wait...are you worried about all that stuff in the newspaper?" Sanji asks. "Don't worry about it, pirates are falsely accused of stuff all the time; we're easy targets!"

"About that…" Robin says. "I apologize for pinning such an unreasonable crime on all of you, but everything the newspaper said was true." We all freeze in terror. "Late last night, I broke into the Mayor's residence and shot him." She says it plainly, with hardly any emotion on her face.

"I have a darkness inside me that you don't know about," Robin goes on. "One day, that darkness will be the end of all of you. I'm afraid that you will have to take the fall for this crime while I escape."

"What are you talking about?!" Sanji yells. "I don't understand!"

"There's no need for you to understand." Robin says.

"Robin, you're not making any sense! What happened?!" Sanji yells, growing desperate.

"We can work this out together!" Chopper adds. "Please don't go!"

"Pika pikachu!" _'Whatever happened, let us help you!'_

Robin shakes her head, "Although I spent only a short time with you, from this day forward, we will never see each other again," She says. "Thank you for the kindness you've shown me; I'll never forget it."

And with that, she turns and starts walking away. We stare at her retreating form in utter silence. This can't be real...this isn't happening, right?

"Hey...come back!" Sanji breaks the silence and we start running towards her. Chopper skids to a halt once we reach the water, but Sanji jumps in. "Stop!" Sanji yells. "You don't know what you're saying! Robin, wait!" Sanji tries to get across but the current is too rough for him to swim properly, probably from the storm coming.

I grit my teeth and quickly move back a few steps. I get a running start and leap onto Sanji's head, jumping towards the other side from there. I barely make it onto the steps and bolt after Robin. We just found her, and we just lost Usopp; I'm not losing another family member! "Pika!" _'Robin!'_

I run as fast as I can, picking up speed when Robin turns a corner, but once I turn it myself, I'm greeted to a shocking sight. A door is just standing there, wide open. Robin slowly walks through it and I make to follow too late.

The door closes and vanishes into thin air...along with Robin.

* * *

 **And it's time for the plot to get rolling, full steam ahead!**


	95. Robin's Wish

**Sorry again for the delay, my lovelies! I was at the beach and so my muse took the opportunity to take a break. Plus, I had to rewatch a good chunk of episodes to figure out where to put Pika-chan (and exposition episodes are NOT FUN to re-write, cause you realize just how many times people repeat stuff X( ). I'm not looking forward to when everyone splits up in Enies Lobby...gah, so many branching paths to take! How am I supposed to choose!?**

* * *

I stare at the spot where Robin once stood, clenching my jaw tightly. The last few minutes are pretty much a blur to me. Everything Robin said, everything that's happened...it's all too much!

I look back the way I came before running forward; I'm not letting Robin go that easily! I'm gonna find her even if I have search every Arceus damned building in this city! I run for a while until I get to another roof; I need to think outside the box here. Where would Robin possibly go?

I look around the buildings and my gaze eventually falls on the Galley-La building where Iceberg is being kept. I lightly frown as my brain starts to whir; Robin and whoever she was with tried to assassinate Iceburg last night, but they failed. Someone wanted Iceburg dead, but they failed probably due to a slip-up.

Maybe Robin sabotaged them without them knowing. In that case, those assassins might head there at some point to finish the job! Robin probably knows this too with how logical she is; she's got to be there! And if she's not...well, maybe I can help clear the Straw Hats' names if I can prevent anymore damage from being done. With my destination in mind, I nod and run off.

It's easy getting to the building without being seen and I easily get onto the roof. I subtly peek through all the windows on the upper floors until-score! Iceburg's bedroom! He's still in bed and bandaged and that secretary lady's in there with him.

The whole place is quiet, so I guess I'll just have to stay put and listen in for anything useful. The secretary (who's name I finally catch is Kalifa) stays with him for a good while. I hang around and keep watch for hours as the day slowly drags by. Luckily, thanks to that time, I've found that one of the windows has a loose latch so I can easily slip inside if I have to.

When night finally falls, I'm almost asleep on my feet when Iceburg starts talking to Kalifa. I strain my hearing and I hear him ask her to leave and send Paulie in. I watch anxiously as Kalifa exits and a few moments later, Cigar guy enters. So that's Paulie; I guess he must be one of Iceburg's most trusted. He did seem to be the most passionate when he was beating Luffy into the ground for trying to kill Iceburg.

I listen carefully, and I pick up Iceburg telling Paulie to go to his office and look for a secret compartment in the floor under his desk. Inside are special blueprints, and Paulie has to take them and run. Special blueprints? Could those be the reason why Iceburg was attacked? Paulie leaves the room and I keep waiting for a few more minutes. I should probably try to get inside soon, just in case something-

 **BOOM!**

I jump as an explosion rings through the air. I quickly run up to the top of the roof and see an orange glow from the front of the building. Did something just blow up? I frown lightly; I have a good feeling that explosion must mean something. If Usopp has taught me anything, bright and loud things make for perfect diversions. I quickly move down to the window and I see Iceburg glancing around in confusion from the noise.

Now's my chance; I gotta be quick! I slip through the window and hide behind the pillows lining the sill, before jumping to the floor and sliding under Iceburg's bed. Now I just gotta wait. Iceburg's attackers should be here soon...and hopefully Robin will be with them. Arceus, please let her be alright…

I cringe as I hear tons of commotion going on outside the door and below the floor. Whoever this is is making quick work of these shipwrights. Dammit, I wish I could help, but Robin's more important! If Iceburg's attackers are dangerous, she could be in danger too!

A few moments later, I hear the creak of a door opening.I peek out, expecting to see the door opening...but the wall is opening instead! My eyes widen as who figures where long colored cloaks walk in. One is wearing a giant Bear Head, but the other is just wearing a plain black mask over her eyes.

"I had a feeling you'd be coming back for me." Iceburg says. Bear Head closes the wall and it seals like nothing ever happened; does he have a Devil Fruit? "Even so, I can't believe my eyes; is this how you got in last night?" Iceburg asks.

"It's the power of the Door Door Fruit," Bear Head says as he and the other figure walk towards the bed, making me back up to remain hidden. "No matter how thick a surface may be, I just touch it, and it opens for me."

As they get closer, I focus more on the second figure in the hood. Since I can't see her face from so far under the bed, I take in her heels, her scent, and her posture. It...it's Robin! Why is she with this guy?! Is she undercover or something?!

 **Bang!**

I'm snapped out of my thoughts as Bear Head pulls out a pistol and fires at Iceburg. I barely hide a squeak as Iceburg tumbles out of his bed, clutching his shoulder which is now bleeding madly.

"Wait, it's not time yet." Robin says.

"Don't worry, it's not a fatal wound," Bear Head says. "I'm just giving him a taste of what's to come, like an appetizer, before the main course."

Iceburg groans in pain and I almost run out to him when disembodied hands appear and grab me. They push me to the ground and hold me still. I grit my teeth and start to struggle when one of the hands puts a finger to my mouth, as a sign to be quiet. The hands don't move or make any moves to attack, they simply keep me in place. Robin doesn't want me interfering. Does she have a plan?

"So that's how CP9 works…" Iceburg grounds out. He slowly tries to get on all fours, "That poor Straw Hat Boy...he had nothing to do with this, did he?"

Robin's mask drops to the ground, "Don't beat yourself up over it," She says. "You simply told the truth exactly as you saw it, and I was here last night." No...Robin, it can't be!

Iceburg manages to sit against his bed, "So...this was all part of your plan?"

"You're alive for two reasons," Bear Head says. "First, so you could tell about the failed assassination and place a Straw Hat member at the scene of the crime. Second...so we could ferret out a specific set of blueprints that have been passed down from shipwright to chosen apprentice for generations."

My eyes widen; I was right! They are after those blueprints!

"We knew that with your life in danger you would pass them down to someone you trusted, and you chose your Foreman," Bear Head says. "Our associates are with him as we speak." Oh crap, Paulie just walked right into a trap! I hope he can fight his way out of it!

Bear Head turns to Robin, "I'll deal with the riffraff outside the door; I want you to see this through."

Robin nods, "Of course."

Bear Head slowly walks towards the door. "Our associates will contact you when the blueprints are secure. At that time, you are cleared to dispose of Iceburg. After that, the only loose end will be Paulie, and with his death, the truth of what happened here will die." He opens the door, "And the blame will remain on the Straw Hat pirates."

Bear Head exits the room and I stare at Robin's feet from under the bed. She's alone now; now she can do something about this! C'mon Robin, help him!

"Isn't this a surprise." Iceburg says softly. "After all this time...Nico Robin." Wait, does Iceburg know Robin?

"Am I supposed to know you?" Robin asks. Okay, guess not.

"I've been wanting to see you for a long time," Iceburg answers. "I even hung your Wanted poster on my wall so I wouldn't forget."

"Should I give you an autograph, then?" Robin asks flatly.

Iceburg breathes heavily, "If you sign it...in blood!" Iceburg suddenly pulled out a pistol, and Robin pulled out four pistols a split second later, extra hands holding the other two under her real hands. I start and Robin's hands tighten their grip on me.

"So you want to kill me?" Robin asks.

"Yes…" Iceburg says. "Before you destroy the world…!"

My eyes grow huge; what the ever loving hell is he talking about?!

"Tell me…" Iceburg growls. "Why are you looking for the Poneglyphs?"

My ears twitch at the term as a conversation from a while back echoes once again.

 _'I used Crocodile to help me find the Rio Poneglyph.'_

Robin had only mentioned the Poneglyphs once, and none of us asked because we didn't know what it was! Why is Robin trying to find them?!

"You must know the risks; for as long as anyone can remember, the government has deemed it a serious crime to research them." Wait, what? Those things are illegal?

"If they're so bad, why do you know about them?" Robin asks, neither of them lowering their guns.

Iceburg smiles, "Knowing the Poneglyphs exist is hardly a crime, but deciphering them is another matter entirely, and you're the only one in the world who's capable of that!"

Okay, I'm confused; why would being able to decipher something put you on the government's hit list? If these Poneglyphs talk about dangerous stuff then I know Robin would at least put that knowledge to good use or not say anything. Why is Iceburg assuming that she wants to use the information for evil?

"You alone have the power to revive the ancient weapon; that's why a bounty was put on your head at the age of 8."

Aokiji's words echo in my head once again,

 _'You should know that her bounty isn't just a measurement of her overall power; it also represents just how much of a threat she poses to the World Government.'_

Of course; the government must've thought that Robin knowing the information was too dangerous. She was only eight back then so they probably didn't want her poking around with stuff she didn't really know about. But even then, why didn't they just take her into custody? Why deem her a threat? She was just a kid back then, she probably didn't even know it was illegal!

"I never would have thought that CP9 was actually real," Iceburg continues. "And if that's the case, then you've left the Straw Hats and are working for the World Government now."

...What? No...no no no…

"But I suppose that's not my concern. If you decipher one of the Poneglyphs and rebuild one of the weapons, it won't matter who uses it or for what purpose...it's all the same in the end. Weapons can only bring about destruction."

Robin is silent for a moment, "You may be right, and I don't disagree, but you don't know why I'm doing this," She says. "You have no right to tell me what I can and can't do with my research or what knowledge I can or cannot learn."

Iceburg smiles again, "Then we might have more in common than you think," He says. "Because I possess the blueprints for the ancient weapon Pluton."

Robin's eyes widen and I feel my instincts getting wary. Iceburg has the plans for a weapon?! He explains that it was a battleship created by Water 7 a long time ago, and they kept the blueprints just in case they needed to build another ship to match Pluton if it was ever built. Pluton was eventually lost to history, but now the government wants to get their hands on the plans to revive it. And judging by the chaos going on, they're willing to pull any strings or use any means of force necessary to get their hands on it.

"A shipwright named Tom passed those blueprints down to me," Iceburg says. "He also told me about a little girl who was the sole survivor of the Ohara Incident twenty years ago." I shudder as Robin tenses; I can feel fear and regret rolling off her in waves.

"Tom told me that this little girl was still dangerous because she had the same ideals as the devils from Ohara, so in honor of the other shipwrights and Tom it's my responsibility to not let you live, because even without the blueprints, as long as you're alive, the weapon can still be built!"

I tense as Iceburg starts to pull the trigger, only for more of Robin's hands to appear and stop him. I squeal in terror but one of Robin's hands covers my mouth, stopping the sound as more arms grab Iceburg and knock him to the ground, two hands gripping his neck tightly while Robin straddles him and points one of her pistols to his head.

"Is that all you want to say before die?" Robin asks coldly. "And for your information, killing me wouldn't have changed anything. I'm sure the government has already accomplished stealing the blueprints by now."

Robin's hands on me tighten again as I try desperately to move, to get to Robin. I've got to knock some sense into her somehow! This has to stop, this is going way too far!

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves…" Iceburg says softly. "You're the ones who have fallen into my trap." I stop struggling and blink; did he have a back-up plan this whole time?

At that moment, a small ringing noise is heard. Robin pulls a mini Transponder snail out of her cloak with an extra arm and answers it. "We hit a snag in our plan." A voice says. "Don't shoot Iceburg yet; I absolutely need him alive. Everyone head to the bedroom immediately."

The snail hangs up and I can't help but deflate in relief as Iceburg reveals that the plans they found were fake. Phew! Close call!

"I'd rather die than let those plans fall into the hands of the government…" Iceburg rasps. "But now that I know you're searching for the Poneglyphs, I have to stop you!"

"I understand your concern, but I'm only studying the Poneglyphs to learn about the history of the world," Robin says calmly. "I don't care about any weapon."

"You have to take responsibility!" Iceburg snaps, glaring at her. "Even if you don't have malicious intent, your curiosity could lead to the destruction of the world!" I feel Robin's arms holding me start to quiver slightly. "Even after what happened to the devils of Ohara, you still want to take this chance?!"

 _"You don't know a damn thing about Ohara!"_ I start as the pistol in Robin's hand starts to shake. I've never heard Robin raise her voice like that!

Robin lowers her head, "You have no idea...how much the World Government has worn my life, do you hear me?!"

"Then why help them?!" Iceburg demands.

Robin is quiet for a moment, "Because I have a wish that I would sacrifice anything for." Robin makes the arms around Iceburg disappear, allowing him to sit up. She gets up off him and stows her weapon, but the arms around me stay put.

I listen intently that Robin says that when she arrived here, CP9 approached her with two conditions; the first being that she leave our crew and pin Iceburg's assassination on us, and second being to hand herself over to the government afterward and do whatever they say without question. I struggle against Robin once again in pure confusion with the urge to run to her and demand answers. I can't believe what I'm hearing! What wish could be so important that all of this is necessary?!

"But the government has been chasing you for 20 years; why agree to something like that now?" Iceburg asks, voicing my thoughts. I feel a bit of fear roll off of Robin, even though I can't see her.

"In this instance, CP9 has been given permission to issue a Buster Call against the Straw Hats." A Buster Call? "It's an emergency order that summons five vice admirals and ten battleships to the same location."

I start; holy crap, the government can do that?! If the situation demands it, they can basically call in the whole cavalry?! And if all vice admirals are like Aokiji, that would be equal to a massacre! And if we were subject to something like that...Arceus, I don't think even we could handle it. The Merry or any other pirate ship would go down in seconds, and that would render Devil Fruit users useless. And after that, it would be like shooting Aipoms in a barrel.

"Under normal circumstances, only the three admirals and the Fleet Admiral are allowed to exercise that kind of authority...but this time, Admiral Aokiji has given CP9 the right to make the call."

I can't believe this! The government wants Robin so badly that they're willing to let lesser government officials press the big red button?! Are these people really so completely fine with going as far as completely destroying us?!

"If I hadn't surrendered, then myself and the rest of the Straw Hats would have been annihilated," Robin says. Her extra hands around me press closer, their quivering still apparent. "For the past twenty years, I've been able to run and survive, because I had nothing to protect."

My eyes widen, _'Robin…'_

"But now, for the first time in all these years, I can't use anyone as a shield," She continues, her voice becoming thick with emotion. "They picked up the life I gave up on, returned the heart I lost, and continued the dreams I no longer believed in! Even after all I've done...I've found friends who still believe in me."

I press against the palms of Robin's arms around me as the hold becomes more akin to a hug. The hand over my mouth also moves away to lovingly pet my head as I almost deflate in relief; I knew Robin would never betray us. She was just trying to protect us this whole time.

"What is this wish of yours?" Iceburg asks.

I feel more fear roll off Robin, "That all the Straw Hat pirates are allowed to leave this island safely, excluding me!"

My eyes shoot open, my initial relief crushed into dust. She's sacrificing herself for our sake! No, I can't let that happen! Robin's arms resume their tight hold to keep me still and the one hand covers my mouth again before I can call out to her. I can't let her do this!

"And as long as you have that, you don't care what happens to the rest of the world?!" Iceburg demands in horror.

"No, I don't," Robin answers firmly.

 _'Robin…! No…!'_ I struggle as hard as I can as Iceburg raises his pistol once again, but we both freeze as the doors open. I manage to turn my head slightly to see four pairs of feet enter the room before closing the door. The rest of the assassins are here.

I grudgingly decide to cease struggling for now. There's no way I can fight them all off by myself. However, if they do anything to hurt Robin, I'll easily shock these hands off me to get to her if I have to.

Iceburg coughs roughly, "I have nothing to give you!" He grounds out; he must be in a lot of pain. I'm surprised he hasn't passed out yet.

"Then we have a problem." A voice says; it sounds like the same voice from the Transponder snail. Just then there's the flapping of wings. I hear thumps and turn slightly to see that giant masks are being dropped to the floor one by one.

"I must say, you disappoint me, Iceburg." From my position, it looks like Iceburg is shaking, but not in pain. I can feel bits of disbelief coming off him; wait…

"L...Lucci?" My ears twitch; Iceburg knows these people?!

Another mask drops to the floor, "You should have just handed over the blueprints when we asked nicely."

"Kaku…"

"Pity; I was hoping we could walk away from this without resorting to violence." Wait, I know that voice! That's-

"Kalifa…!"

"It's a shame you're as hard headed as your master." I recognize the voice as the one who was with Robin earlier; the guy who can make doors!

"Blueno, from the bar…!" Iceburg seems to be in pure shock, "You've been with the government...all this time?"

"Indeed." Lucci says. "Going undercover is like second nature to us." He steps forward, "Now, since we're all being so honest here, tell us; where are the blueprints for the weapon Pluton?" Oh man, this is gonna get messy, real fast if someone doesn't do something! Where are Luffy and the others when you need them?!

I listen as Lucci explains that they're part of Cipher Pole, which is a government intelligence facility with eight branches and they're basically the eyes and ears of the government. But the ninth branch, which they're a part of, is basically the invisible branch since they do all the hush-hush undercover stuff; and they're also the ones who have the right to execute people if they're disobedient to the government.

Lucci also says that the government wants Pluton so they can put an end to the Great Pirate Era. Of course; sounds like the upper-class snobs are getting tired of not being in control of a few rowdy pirates. Things quickly go from bad to worse as Iceburg tries to reason with them, only to be pinned by Kaku.

I watch carefully as they begin interrogating him. Lucci says that Iceburg's pulse will tell them where the real blueprints are. They say that the fake blueprints were signed by three shipwrights; Tom, Iceburg himself, and Cutty Flam.

Since the blueprints aren't here anymore, that must mean that Iceburg passed them to someone else, someone who had to be an accomplished shipwright. But both Tom and Cutty Flam are dead...or that's what they thought. Because one day, someone came to see Iceburg, and said his name was Cutty Flam. Cutty Flam is alive and now goes by another name: Franky.

If Robin's hand wasn't over my mouth, my jaw would've dropped. Franky? The giant robot guy who beat up Usopp is actually a shipwright that's worthy enough to hide the blueprints to a massive weapon?! Wow, talk about 'don't judge a book by its cover'!

By this point, Iceburg is pale and sweating all over. I think it's safe to say that Lucci is right. I really hope this means that they'll leave poor Iceburg alone, but I doubt that's the case if they want to keep themselves and this whole fiasco a secret.

"Don't look so torn up." Lucci says as Kaku finally lets Iceburg go, allowing him to lie on the ground. "You're only human; you wouldn't have been able to hide the answers under these circumstances. Just be grateful that justice will prevail in the wake of all this."

I grit my teeth and squirm in Robin's grasp yet again; only a psychopath would believe that justice is a good excuse for murder under these circumstances!

"Thanks for the last five years, but you've outlived your usefulness." Kaku says.

"Let's find Franky before the storm hits." Kalifa says.

Just then, something loud slams into the wall, and I hear the slashing of blades.

"GIVE ROBIN BACK!" A familiar voice yells.

"Luffy!" Robin exclaims.

"Luffy?!" I hear Zoro exclaim as well.

Oh good, looks like the gang's all here. But I have a sinking feeling that things can only get messier from here on out.

* * *

 **Before you ask, Pika-chan didn't use any electricity to break free of Robin's extra hands because it doesn't want to hurt her. It still trusts Robin.**

 **Oh Robin, you poor sweet child...and her torment is just beginning! (Also, yeah, CP9, you assholes can all go die in a hole for using a fucking Buster Call and Robin's PTSD to get her to agree to your sick terms. Seriously, fuck the government in One Piece (and yes, I will DEFINITELY rant more about them in later chapters cause I hate them oh so very much))**


	96. Train Station

**Quick announcement, that I definitely won't be updating next Friday and possibly the Friday after because I have Band Camp next week and right after that, I need to go to Kentucky for family matters. I'll try to turn out the next chappie as fast as possible before I have to head back to campus for the school year!**

 **(Also, in response to someone suggesting that I write responses to all you lovely reviewers, I REALLY don't think I have the patience to keep track of ALL of you and respond to every one. But that doesn't mean I don't cherish you any less! You guys all make me happy and I love you all!)**

* * *

Thanks to Robin's extra hands still holding me, I still can't get a good view from my position under the bed. I can only see people's feet, but luckily I know the feet of my crewmates. The only pair of feet missing is Sanji's; I wonder where he went?

It takes everyone a good minute to take in the whole situation and Paulie sums it up perfectly. "WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?!"

I squirm halfheartedly in Robin's grip as Paulie seems to be in denial of what he's seeing. I don't blame him; these guys were shipwrights, they worked together. And now it turns out they were never really friends after all.

"Hey, what the hell are you guys doing with those costumes?!" Paulie demands. "Kalifa, Kaku, Lucci; c'mon guys, say something!"

"Well Paulie, in all honesty, we're agents working for the World Government." Lucci says plainly. "This must be a bit of a shock for you, since we've been comrades for the past five years, so maybe you'll believe me if I smash Iceburg's face." I struggle once more; this Lucci guy is really starting to get under my skin!

Paulie growls like an animal, "I'll teach you to mock me!" I see Paulie's feet run towards Lucci's, ignoring Iceburg's protests.

I hear Paulie throw something, but Lucci's feet vanish in an instant before appeared right in front of Paulie. "Finger Pistol!" A hear the sound of something cutting through flesh, and Paulie chokes as blood splatters the ground.

"What a shame; you still haven't learned your lesson." Lucci says.

Paulie breathes heavily, "Screw...you…" He rasps before falling to his knees.

"It's pointless to resist," Lucci says. "We have mastered the art known as the Six Powers, which gives us the strength of over a hundred men."

Paulie continues to breathe heavily before slowly getting back up, "Why…?"

"I'm sorry Paulie," Lucci steps closer to him, "But our friendship is over, and I must eliminate you."

"You jerk!" Luffy's voice suddenly rings out. "Leave him alone!" I hear Luffy stretch (I assume his leg since one foot vanished from the ground), but I don't hear the payoff of someone getting hit. Luffy pauses and doesn't retract his leg; did Lucci block his kick?

Luffy then retracts his body towards his held leg, "Gum Gum Gatling!"

"Iron Body." Lucci says. I hear Luffy's punches hitting their mark, but Lucci's feet are standing firm on the ground. Is he taking all of Luffy's punches? How?! Luffy's attack stops and he jumps back.

"You're nothing but a pest." Lucci spits, and he vanishes again. My ears twitch as I desperately try to keep up with his speed, but the next thing I know, Luffy's flying to the ground near Zoro and the others. How the hell is he so fast?!

"If you weren't made of rubber, you'd be dead with a hole in your neck." Lucci remarks. Luffy doesn't respond, but instead stretches out to grab Paulie and pull him over to him.

"You're protecting him?" Lucci asks. "Why?"

"Why do you think?" Luffy snaps. "Because I don't want him to die!" Luffy stands up straight, "You guys were all friends just the other day; how could you do this?!"

"Things have changed." Lucci answers plainly.

"Whatever; that means you're my enemy now!" Luffy says. "I promised with Paulie that I'd take out anyone who tried to hurt Ice-Pops!"

"So you decided to trust him over us?" Kaku asks.

"Yeah!" Luffy nods. "Cause you guys tried to take one of my friends!" Oh boy, here we go…

"Hey Robin, what gives?" Luffy asks. "Why are you acting like this? If you're gonna leave the crew at least tell me why!"

"And why would you want to team up with the World Government? That's crazy!" Nami adds.

"Do I have to repeat myself?" Robin says coldly. "I believe I said my farewells to the Cook, the Doctor, and Pikachu. Didn't you pass that along?"

"Of course I did!" Chopper says. "But that doesn't mean I accept it! How can you do this?!"

"I did it to make my wish come true." Robin says. "A wish that can't happen as long as we're together; if you can't accept that, then I'm sorry. You may think it's unfair, but to achieve my goal, I will make any sacrifice."

"Even accusing your own crewmates of attempted murder," Zoro states. "What exactly is this wish of yours?"

"I don't have to answer that." Robin responds. Dammit...knowing the reason why she won't answer makes watching this a hundred times worse!

"Wake up, Robin; don't be a fool!" Iceburg cries. "I don't care what you're trying to accomplish; the consequences are just too great!"

"This is no longer your choice to make!" Robin snaps, waving her arm. "This should shut you up!"

Petals appear around Iceburg, and hands emerge from the floor, bending his back and arm sharply. Everyone gasps as audible cracks are heard from the bones and I shudder in Robin's grasp.

"I won't let anyone get in my way." Robin says softly.

I never thought I'd see the day where I feared someone's loyalty. Could this be what Sandy meant by watching how loyal I was? Arceus, if I was put in Robin's situation, I don't know what I'd do!

"You're not making any sense!" Luffy yells. "You really expect me to believe any of this?!"

"Robin, what happened to you?!" Chopper cries. ""You're our friend, right?! Please, Robin, come back!"

"I'll have to stop you there." Lucci says, stepping up. "We have a date this evening with a very important individual that's been four years in the making; we're finished here."

All the members of CP9 face the Straw Hats and one of Robin's hands suddenly releases me. It signals for me to keep quiet before pointing to Robin's cloak. I blink in confusion, but nod, nonetheless; if Robin wants me to go with her, then I'll go! Anything to keep an eye on her and learn more about what's going on!

Robin's hands vanish from my body and I move to the edge of the bed, peeking out from under it ever so slightly. I creep alongside Iceburg's body, giving him the sign to keep quiet as well, as Lucci says in two minutes the whole building is going to be burned down. Man, these guys are really going out with a bang.

A second later, I zoom across the floor and scamper under Robin's cloak. I climb up and cling to her back just as she raises her hood, "I suppose I'll take my leave, now."

"You've done exactly as you were told," Lucci says. "Good work."

"Robin, don't go!" Luffy protests. "You're still one of us!"

"This is farewell." Robin responds without hesitation and I feel her start to walk.

I then hear footsteps running towards us, "We just got you back; I'm not letting you get away again!" Luffy yells.

I squeeze my eyes shut as I hear CP9 fend off Luffy's attacks with ease, along with the others. There's a lot of crashing and yelling, all of it not pleasant. I even hear Zoro's blades clashing with metal; do one of those guys have swords too? Robin finally stops walking and I hear a window opening, gusts of cold air following.

"Don't go, Robin!" Luffy yells, making her pause. "We're not done talking yet!"

"No," Robin says, glancing back at them. "It's over; this is the last time you'll see me." Robin jumps up onto the windowsill, and more chaos ensues.

I hear Luffy running towards us, as well as something heavy hitting the ground, followed by Chopper's scream. I clench my paws and try to ignore the sounds; this all way too similar to Aska island when I couldn't look at anybody while attacking them!

Finally, Robin takes a step and drops off the edge of the window. She summons extra arms to help her land safely, and she moves swiftly through the chaos still ensuing outside. I silently keep holding onto her until she finally slows to a stop.

"You can come out, now." I reluctantly drop down and emerge from under her cloak, to find that we're somewhere in the middle of Water 7. "I'm sorry you had to hear and witness all of that," Robin says somberly. "But it will all be over soon."

I look up and Robin with worry, "Pikachu…"

"Now, I have somewhere I need to be," Robin says, her head low. "You need to get out of here, now."

I shake my head and grab her cloak, "Pika-" _'Robin-'_

Robin pulls away, her head low, "I know that you're a capable fighter, but this is something out of your league. I won't risk your safety when it comes to the government." She reaches down and rests a hand on the side of my head, "You're a rarity in this world, a creature that has never been recorded in the history of this world."

My eyes widen; how does she know that? Has she never come across my kind in a book or anything before?

"I don't have all the answers, I'm far from them," Robin continues. "But I can safely assume that there are only a few of you scattered about this world, and with Decimal gone, I won't endanger a species as special as you."

"Pika…" _'Robin…'_

Robin gently scratches my ear, "This is goodbye, Pikachu," She says softly. "Don't follow me; stay alive and recover your memories, and I truly hope you find what you're looking for." She smiles sadly. "I won't forget you, or any of our friends. Goodbye."

I reach up and try to grab Robin's hand as it pulls away, but she easily slips out and walks away, quickly disappearing into the night.

It doesn't take me long to start tailing her; even though she slipped away from my sight, I still have a pretty good idea where she's going. The deal she made was that she was to help with the whole blueprints thing and then turn herself in in exchange for us not getting killed.

And with this Aqua Laguna storm coming, leaving this place by ship would be way too dangerous. So that only leaves one other method to get off this island: the Sea Train.

Using the rooftops, I easily make my way to the train station; it also helps that the city is just about empty. The station finally comes into view and it doesn't take long to find who I'm looking for. I crouch down on the roof right above an open part of the station, and a whole bunch of Marines and guys in black suits are down there, along with a tall figure in a hooded green cloak. I watch and growl softly as two guys in suits escort Robin down a tunnel; that must be where the train is. Now I just gotta find a way to sneak on and-

My ears twitch and an irritated tingle runs down my spine. I know that feeling all too well. I approach the entrance of one of the entry tunnels from the roof and the wind blows the faint hint of tobacco smoke in my face as well as a stupid lovey-dovey voice.

"Aw, you want me to save you, Robin? Don't worry, your prince is on his way!"

I roll my eyes and raise my paw, hitting him with the smallest Lightning Bullet I can muster. It only makes Sanji jump slightly and I take the opportunity to jump down and enter the tunnel with him. "Pika pi."

"Pika-chan?" Sanji asks, blinking in surprise. "Well, didn't expect to find you all the way out here."

"Pika pikachu." I say, pointing to where the men took Robin.

Sanji nods, "I see," He looks at the Marines, "You wouldn't happen to know what's going on with her, would you?"

I smile and nod; I think this is the first time someone's assumed that I know more than I let on!

Sanji smirks, "Alright, you can try to tell me later," He says, gesturing to his shoulder and I leap up. "For now we need to-"

"CP9 is coming!" My eyes suddenly narrow and we peek out to see the five members walking towards the groups of Marines. I growl softly and Sanji glances at me, probably picking up that I know who they are. But my growling stops when I realize that Blueno is carrying to bags over his shoulders, wrapped up with ropes.

Both sacks are squirming and yelling madly to let them go and it doesn't take us long to recognize the voices. It's Franky and...Usopp?! What the hell?! Oh Arceus, he must've been in the wrong place at the wrong time when CP9 caught Franky! The two continue yelling profanities until Kaku gives each of them a good bonk on the head to quiet them down.

"Why is Usopp here?" Sanji mutters.

"Pika…" I say softly.

CP9 slowly walk towards the tunnel that holds the train, the other guys in suits saluting them. I wonder if they're part of the whole Cipher Pole thing?

Sanji scoffs as Usopp starts yelling out his usual spiel of lies to make himself sound brave, "He says he's sorry for causing us trouble, and then he goes and gets in trouble all over again…"

To my surprise, his words don't sting like I expect them to. In fact, I feel pretty annoyed too, as well as worried! I shake my head and push the feelings aside; right now I have to focus!

The rest of the suit guys eventually all file into the tunnel to board the train and Sanji steps out into the open. "Pikachu?" I ask, pointing to the tunnel.

"We'll stay put until the last possible second," Sanji says. "With any luck, Luffy or one of the others will be able to catch up." I grimace; while I don't doubt them, I don't think they'll be able to catch this train in time.

"But either way," Sanji puffs out some smoke, "I left Nami a message at the front of the station, so hopefully the others will follow." I smile and nod in relief; leave it to Sanji to think ahead of the game. Actually, maybe I should put my own signature on that message so the others don't wander around the whole city looking for me.

I quickly leap off Sanji's shoulder and scamper up the stairs to find...a giant graffiti message, pointing to a folded piece of paper on the ground. It's surrounded by hearts and is basically addressed to Nami for her to please read it. Wow, Sanji, I know you're over the top but this is pushing it just a touch. I'm surprised I missed that when I was sneaking in here.

I spy the paintbucket that he used to write the message and quickly unfold the piece of paper. I don't bother reading it, cause judging by the graffiti, it's 90% love letter talk and go straight to where Sanji signed.

I dip my front paw in the pain and stamp my pawprint right next to his name; that oughta do it. I make my way back down to the station and back onto Sanji's shoulder just as an announcer comes on.

 **"Due to the approaching storm surge, the departure time has been moved up from 11pm to 10:45pm; the train will be departing shortly."**

I tense slightly and Sanji gives me a small pat on my back; looks like we may be the only ones boarding. We wait around for a bit more, the wind steadily picking up, until the nearby clock hands reach 10:44.

"Well, time's up," Sanji says, putting out his cigarette with his shoe. "Looks like the others will have to catch us later." He looks at me, "Ready, partner?"

"Chu." I say with a firm nod; let's get Robin back! I grip Sanji's shoulder as he runs down the tunnel and we reach the train just as it's starting to move. Sanji easily takes a flying leap and latches onto the last car.

I move to Sanji's lap as he sits on the railing and we watch Water 7 and the train station quickly shrink out of sight. No turning back now. We either get Robin back, or die trying. And I know that neither of us have any intention of dying.

* * *

 **And with that, I believe it's safe to say that we are literally rolling right into the Enies Lobby arc! Toot toot!**


	97. Sea Train

**SO sorry for the long wait my lovelies! School started and since I'm a senior I just KNOW that school is gonna kick my ass since I need to make sure I take enough classes to graduate on time this summer.**

 **But don't worry, I'll try to update whenever I am able!**

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"So basically, Robin turned herself in to keep us safe?"

I nod in relief; I don't know how I managed to charade that, but it helped that Sanji's pretty smart when he's not girl crazy.

Sanji looks behind him at the train, "Poor Robin...she's probably terrified." Yeah, I don't blame you for thinking that. Even if she did agree to do this, that doesn't make this any less scary for her. She's had a bounty since she eight; they probably won't wait to execute her when they get to Enies Lobby, or wherever this train is going.

Sanji tries to light his cigarette again, but thanks to the rain and wind from the speeding train, it's almost impossible. Sanji eventually flicks it away and pockets his lighter, "So, what's the best way to get inside this thing?" He wonders aloud.

"Pikachu," I shrug. _'We could knock,'_

"Whoa!" The door suddenly opens, revealing an officer in a black suit, "This storm is insane!"

Sanji and I stare at him in silence until he finally notices us. Sanji and I look at each other, grins growing on our faces.

"Colliet Shot!" Sanji kicks the guy back into the train car, and we step in the doorway to have a bunch of guns pointed at us.

"Who are you?!" One of the many men in black demands. The door behind us swings shut, and we don't move. Sanji pulls out a cigarette, making them tense for a second.

"Did you see that kick?" One of them comments. "This guy isn't just some civilian."

Sanji finally lights a cigarette with success, "If you keep talking like that you'll make me blush."

"Go tell CP9 that we have a suspicious intruder!" Another man instructs. What am I, chopped Magikarp?

"Wait a minute!" Sanji and I tense at the new voice. "These little intruders aren't worth bothering CP9 about; after all, I'm in this car." I hear a few coughs and Sanji and I look up to see a giant man towering over us while standing at a ninety degree angle; was he there this whole time?

The tall guy coughs again, getting face fulls of Sanji's smoke, before laughing, "You're looking at Jerry, from the South Blue island renowned for its martial arts! The undefeated boxing champion!" Oh yeah? We'll be the judges of that.

"I prefer karate," Sanji comments.

"Well then, if you can handle my punches, maybe I'll show you some," Jerry says, bringing his hands around to the front which are covered with boxing gloves.

The other officers start to panic, "No, Jerry, wait-!"

Sanji and I leap out of the way just in time as Jerry starts waving his fists everywhere. His arms are so long he almost reminds me of Luffy. Sanji and I land behind Jerry as the other officers get the brunt of his punches, taking a second to realize that we dodged him.

"You're a sneaky one!" He exclaims. He then gets on all fours and looks at us from between his legs (why is a guy this big crammed into a tiny train car like this?). "Don't think you have me at a disadvantage because of this tiny train car!"

"This is the first time I've talked to someone who's head is where their crotch should be," Sanji comments. Snarky as always.

"Now, prepare for annihilation! Yoga Style!" I make a face as Jerry folds his legs so his feet are behind his head, making him sit on the floor while we're a good few feet away.

"You just shortened your reach!" Sanji snaps.

"That's what you think!" Jerry says. He then starts to spin and uses his hands to launch himself at us like a giant board.

Sanji easily ducks and glares at him, "That goes against every rule of boxing!"

"Pika pikachu!" _'Yeah, you're supposed to just punch, you cheater!'_

Jerry readies himself for another attack, but can we just end this please? "What a waste of time…" Sanji mutters. Yeah, my thoughts exactly.

Jerry rebounds off the wall back towards Sanji, but he easily jumps over him, readying his leg. "Brochette!" Sanji's heel slams into Jerry's head, shattering his glasses and slamming him into the floor of the car. Jerry doesn't get up after that.

The officers all stare, gaping as Sanji stands up straight and faces the rest of them. "Pika-chan, do you mind?" Sanji asks.

I grin widely, _'Not at all.'_

I step over Jerry, sparks flying from my cheeks. The officers all stare at me in terror before finally putting together what I'm about to do. "N-No, wait!" I fill the whole second half of the car with lightning, frying all the officers with ease.

I leap onto Sanji's shoulder as he walks towards the next car, "Let's try not to make as much noise this time," He says. "Don't want to blow our cover." I nod in agreement, and Sanji opens the door to the next car. About forty faces look back at us, but we don't say a word.

"Who's that guy?" One asks softly as Sanji calmly walks towards the door.

But once we reach the other end, "You idiots! If he doesn't have a uniform, then he must be an intruder!"

Sanji shuts that guy up with a swift kick, spurring the other soldiers into action. "Guess playing innocent doesn't work here," Sanji says.

"Pika…" I sigh, making my tail iron.

A bunch of kicks and iron tail swings later, we're off to the next car. We open the door and we see two bound sacks holding two familiar faces. Oh hey, it's Usopp and Franky.

"Sanji?! Pika-chan?!" Usopp exclaims.

"Hold it!" We turn to see two twin guys wielding blades look at us, "You really think we're gonna let you get away with that?" They ask in unison.

"If you're smart," Sanji responds. The men twirl their blades, but with a swift double kick to their chins, their heads are put right through the roof of the car.

Usopp seems to fully take in our presence and his eyes widen, "Wait, you two didn't hijack the Sea Train just to rescue me, did you?!"

I can't help but shoot him a small glare; you wish you were that special, don't you, Usopp? But then again, he doesn't know what happened with Robin.

"We don't even know what you're doing here," Sanji says. "By the way, who exactly are you? I don't think we've met." I smirk; Sanji's snark is an art on its own.

"You jerk…" Usopp mutters angrily as Franky sits up. Hey, you denounced our whole friendship over a petty argument about our ship, you have no right to talk, mister!

I glance at the counter where I see a bunch of Transponder Snails, so I tap Sanji's leg. Sanji looks over and brightens, "Bingo!" We hurry over to them and I leap onto the counter. "Now I can finally get in touch with Nami!"

"Let me guess," Franky finally speaks. "These two are your pirate friends, right?"

"Ex-friend," Usopp and Sanji say in unison.

"Pika," I agree. I never thought that I'd be mad about this, but hey, I know I'm not the only who's pissed at what Usopp did just a mere 24 hours ago.

"And who are you?" Sanji asks Franky.

"The face of Water 7's underworld; the ship dismantler, Franky," He answers.

Sanji swiftly kicks him right in the face, "So you're the bastard who beat up Usopp!" He yells. " He may be dead to me now, but he was part of our crew, you know! How many pieces do you want me to cut you into?!"

I feel my own rage boil with Sanji's and I growl at Franky, sparks flying, _'If it wasn't for you and your stupid followers, none of this would've happened!'_ I yell. That's probably not completely true, but I'm mad, okay? I need to blame someone for this, and I don't have the heart to yell at Usopp.

Speaking of Usopp, he quickly scoots between us and Franky, "Wait, it's not like that now; a lot's changed since then!" He exclaims. Considering you two have been kidnapped together, I'd say that's an understatement.

"You're lucky I'm tied up, you punk!" Franky yells at Sanji.

"That line's getting old now," Usopp says to him before turning back to us. "But seriously, he's a good guy! He saved the Merry for a while, and…" Usopp trails off and his face falls. "Oh yeah...the Merry, she…" My eyes grow worried; what happened to Merry?

"Hey, don't be getting all sad and mopey on us, now!" Franky says. "Hey blondie, why don't you and your little yellow rat untie me!"

"You can spend the rest of your life in that potato sack for all I care!" Sanji snaps.

"Pika pika pikachu?!" _'Who are you calling a little yellow rat?!'_

"Screw you!" Franky yells.

"Guys, stop it!" Usopp pops up between us again. "If you keep making noise then the Marines are gonna come!"

Oh yeah, and you're helping oodles, Usopp!

"Then shut up!"

"What did you say?!"

"They should have gagged both of you!"

I finally get fed up, sparks flying from my cheeks, "PIKACHU!" _'WOULD YOU GUYS SHUT UP?!"_

I fill the car with lightning, and everyone falls over, mildly burned. While they recover, I leap onto the counter and pick a Transponder Snail, bringing it over to Sanji. "Pika pikachu?" _'Don't we have a call to make?'_ I ask, tapping the snail.

Sanji smiles and shakes his head, "Leave it to Pika-chan to keep us on track." Well, it's what I'm here for.

"Damn…" Franky grumbles, sitting up, "That little yellow guy packs a punch!" Yeah, and I won't hesitate to do it again, you weirdo.

My ears twitch as I hear something coming; footsteps! "Pika pika!" I exclaim, pointing to the door.

"Dammit…" Sanji mutters. He quickly unties one of the knots binding Usopp, giving him enough leeway to get free himself. "Do what you want, but we gotta get out of here!" Sanji says as I jump onto his shoulder.

Sanji's eyes fall on the window and he hurriedly opens it as Usopp gets free and unties Franky. "Hold on," Sanji warns me as the sharp wind from the speed of the train hits us. I tighten my grip and Sanji slowly climbs out and up to the roof of the train car; oh good, now we can be as loud as we want.

Usopp and Franky follow us to the roof and Sanji finds a spot to sit and set up the Transponder Snail, ignoring the heavy rain and wind. "Alright, let's hope the others came through." Sanji dials the number and the snail starts to ring. To our relief, the other snail picks up.

"Sanji? Is that you?" Nami's voice comes through.

"Nami, can you hear us?" Sanji calls.

"Pika pika!"

"Yeah, I can hear you both!" Nami responds. "What's going on?"

"Well, I've got some bad news," Sanji says. "Things have gotten...complicated."

"What do you mean?" Nami asks. I grimace as Usopp lets out a loud yelp as he tries to keep from flying off the train, along with Franky.

"Hey, what's that noise?" Nami asks. "Are there others with you?"

"It's nothing," Sanji says, shooting Usopp and Franky and glare, "Just a couple of dumbasses."

"Okay…" Nami says uneasily. "Anyway, any luck with Robin?"

"We haven't found her yet," Sanji answers. "Fought our way through two train cars, so I'm guessing she's closer to the front of the train."

"I see," Nami says, as we hear a bunch of yelling and screaming in the background.

"Sounds like things are pretty lively on your end, too," Sanji comments.

"Yeah," Nami says before pausing. "Listen Sanji, I need to tell you why Robin's doing this," She says before yelling for those in the background to shut up.

"No need," Sanji says, casting me a grin, "Pika-chan filled me in; Robin did this to protect us from the government, right?"

"Y-Yeah," Nami says in surprise. "Pika-chan, how did you know?" I cover my face with my paws and imitate peeking out of something.

"Pika-chan was hiding and heard the whole thing," Sanji translates.

Nami laughs lightly, "Pika-chan, I think you could give me a run for my money when it comes to snooping!"

"Pika!" I squeal with a light blush.

"Anyway, we're trying to follow you guys, but things are kinda crazy," Nami continues. "We have to hurry and stop Robin before they take her to Enies Lobby!"

"Enies Lobby?" Sanji asks.

Nami quickly explains that Enies Lobby is a top-security military base that has access to the Gates of Justice. Apparently, criminals who go through those gates are locked up in the deepest, darkest dungeons imaginable and wait for death. My blood runs cold as I imagine Robin being subjected to such a fate; if she gets through those gates, it's over. We have to save her, no matter what!

Just then, we hear more screaming on Nami's end. "Hey, what's going on?" Sanji asks. "Are you okay?"

"I think so, we-ah!" Nami yells out and we hear her Transponder Snail drop to the ground.

"Nami? Nami!" Sanji calls.

"What's going on?" Usopp and Franky come over to us as we watch the snail with baited breath. We hear a bit of ruckus for a while, but it eventually calms down; what the heck are the others doing?

"Hey, Nami!" Sanji calls. "Are you okay?"

To our relief, Nami responds, "Yeah, I think so."

"Are you sure?" Sanji asks. "What happened?"

"I think we just got through Aqua Laguna," Nami answers. Oh, so they're sailing through that giant storm; got it. That explains the noise.

"Alright, if you're sure you're okay," Sanji says.

"I'm fine." Nami says.

"Alright; now let me talk to Luffy."

"Sure." Nami's voice disappears, and a few seconds later, Luffy's voice comes through.

"Sanji? Pika-chan?" I notice as Usopp tenses and lowers his head.

"Yeah, it's us." Sanji responds.

"Pikachu."

"What's up?" Luffy asks. "Did you save Robin?"

"No, still working on that," Sanji says. "Pika-chan filled me in about what Robin did for us, so I know what's going on."

"That's good." Luffy says. "Then you know what to do; give 'em hell, you two." I perk up at the choice of words; that's a plan I can get behind! My ears twitch as I hear protests in the background; guess the others are worried.

Eventually, Zoro's voice cuts through, "They'll die if they face them alone; they've got to wait for us!" What? Like hell we're gonna wait!

"Hey Cook, Rodent, can you hear me?" Zoro says directly into the snail. "Some of those guys are really tough, you've got to-"

"Zoro," Luffy cuts him off. "It's fine; if it was you over there instead of him, would you wait?" Zoro doesn't answer. "It's no use trying to stop either of them, not when it comes to one of our friends." Luffy says. Guess that answers that.

"Read me like a book." Sanji says with a grin. "But thanks Mosshead; I never knew that you cared about us so much!"

"I hope they kill you!" Zoro snaps.

"Pikachu!" _'Aw, we love you too, Snorlax!'_

My smile grows wider as I hear Zoro splutter. He understood me, didn't he? I guess Merry was right...sometimes, our voices can be heard...because we're loved.

"Anyway, that settles it," Sanji says, gripping the receiver tightly. "Besides, for Robin, I wouldn't stop even if you begged me!" And with that, he crushes the receiver; holy crap, Sanji! "Hey, why'd you do that?!" Franky demands. "I wanted to talk to Straw Hat, too, dammit!"

"Deal with it," Sanji responds while I stick my tongue out at him.

"Hold up," Usopp suddenly says, catching our attention. "I know I don't deserve to know, but...what happened with Robin?" Sanji hesitates, but catches Usopp up on what happened.

After he's done, Usopp looks down again in shock, "So much has happened in such a short time," He says softly. "It doesn't seem real." You can say that again.

"In a way, Robin's in the same boat as you," Sanji says. "She doesn't know about what happened with you or the Merry." Sanji takes a deep breath and gives me a pat, "I hate to say it, but while we were all busy fighting, Robin surrendered to the government to keep the seven of us safe, and that includes you."

All of a sudden, tears are flying down Franky's face, "Aw man, that is such a sad story!" He sobs. Whoa, that was a real emotional turnaround.

"Why are _you_ crying about this?" Sanji asks.

"I'm not crying, you are!" Franky cries, wiping his eyes with a cloth. He then falls to the ground, "Dammit, I'm so torn up!" He cries. "Here I thought Robin was some evil monster, but it turns out she has a soft side?! What if I'm mixed up about other stuff too?! How can I possibly go on?!"

Oooookaaaaaay then, moving on.

"We have to keep moving; we can't stop when Robin's so close." Sanji says.

"Sweet," Franky shoot to his feet, eyes dry. "I think you, me, and Lil' Yellow there will make a hell of a team, Eyebrows Bro!" He says. "I won't give you the details, but I have my own reasons to keep Robin away from those blueprints." He then starts to cry again, "And you also really touched my heart with that story!" Okay, what are this guy's emotions?!

"Hey, Long Nose, let's go!" Franky yells as Usopp gets to his feet.

"No…" Usopp says softly. Uh, what? "I...I'm not coming." Sanji's eyes widen along with mine; how the hell can he say that?!

"This has nothing to do with me, anymore," Usopp says. "And you're about to make yourselves personal enemies of the World Government; I don't want any part of that." He clenches his fist. "Besides, Luffy and the others are coming; and after I humiliated myself in front of them, I can't just laugh it off and pretend nothing happened!" Well...I guess he has a point. Meeting up with them again after everything that happened between them...it would be awkward and hard for everyone.

Usopp lowers his head, "I'm sorry...I still feel bad for what happened to Robin, but it's not my job to help her anymore! I'm no longer a part of Luffy's crew!" He yells. And with that, he starts to walk away, "See ya…"

"See ya?!" Franky exclaims. "There's nowhere to go!"

Usopp doesn't stop.

"C'mon, you guys can talk this over!" Franky yells.

"Forget it, just leave him." Sanji says sharply as I force myself to not look at Usopp. He's right; this isn't something we can just talk over, not right now.

"All three of you are stubborn as hell." Franky grumbles.

Just then, we hear a noise, and we turn to see a Marine peeking up at us from the roof. "They're up here!" He yells.

"Dammit, they found us!" Sanji exclaims.

"Metallic Star!" A familiar but strange voice says.

Something small and metal hits the Marine, knocking him into the water. "Who the hell are you?!" Sanji and Franky exclaim, turning to see the culprit.

Standing before us, is a figure wearing a long flowing cape and a sun-like mask, with goggles covering the eyes a long nose sticking out of the center. "Your friend told me everything!" The stranger says. "I hear you're looking to rescue a certain mademoiselle, and that alone is enough for me to join your cause." Uh...okay?

"My weapons are at your disposal!" The stranger continues. "My name...is Sniper-King!"

...What the hell is Usopp doing in that outfit?

* * *

 **When I first saw this, I was both intrigued and EXTREMELY emotionally confused XD**

 **Also, was I the only one who was kinda miffed at Usopp for leaving? I mean, I get that he was upset, but he was pretty immature about the Merry. BUT I can't be too mad, because he MORE than redeems himself and the character development he gets out of this whole arc is AMAZING. I REALLY want Pika-chan to spend some time with Usopp/Sniper King, so hopefully I'll find a place somewhere. Plus, the Usopp & Pika-chan nakamaship REALLY needs more mileage and this is the perfect opportunity. **


	98. Train Chaos

**Whew! Sorry for the wait! I greatly appreciate your patience! Senior year is kicking my ass and I now have an internship to worry about, so chapters may be a bit more spread out. We'll see. But for now, enjoy!**

* * *

 _"Your friend told me everything!" The stranger says. "I hear you're looking to rescue a certain mademoiselle, and that alone is enough for me to join your cause." Uh...okay?_

 _"My weapons are at your disposal!" The stranger continues. "My name...is Sniper-King!"_

 _...What the hell is Usopp doing in that outfit?_

"What the hell is he doing over there?" Franky asks dully. My ears droop as Usopp seems to be singing under his breath; did that dork make up his own theme song?

"Just humor the poor guy," Sanji sighs. "He has too much pride to show his face to his crew but he still wants to rescue his friend."

My ears perk up a bit; I...don't know how to feel about this. I guess I'll just look on the bright side; he's not abandoning Robin. Franky calls him over and we all sit in a circle, me in Sanji's lap, to discuss our plan of attack. "Okay," Sanji starts. "Let's start the meeting for Operation Rescue Robin."

"We've never met before," Usopp says. "Don't you have any questions about me?" Usopp, not now.

"Okay, you guys were in car number 6, so we've got five more left," Sanji says.

"Chu." I nod.

"You know, like...where's Sniper Island?" Shut up, stupid.

"But we don't know which one of those Robin is in," Sanji continues.

"The answer is...it's in your heart." Save the nerdy hero stuff for when Luffy and Chopper get here, you idiot. Now shut up and help us make a plan, please!

"By the way," Sanji looks at Franky, "Are you strong?"

Franky almost looks offended, "Are you kidding, I'm super strong!" He says. "Even stronger than usual this week!"

"Pikachu," I agree, nodding.

Sanji looks down at me, "You've seen him in action?" I nod again; I can totally testify that Franky is a powerhouse of his own kind.

"Alright," Sanji nods. "But remember, the point is to rescue Robin, not beat the enemy...at least in theory." He says. "We're up against a lot of Marines, so our best bet is to whittle down the enemy little by little."

"Makes sense to me," Franky agrees. Yeah, I'm onboard; these CP9 guys operate in the dark, so our best bet is probably to do the same.

"Even though we're total strangers, my intuition says I can trust your judgement," Usopp says. Yeah, sure, whatever; let's just get this show on the road. Luckily, Sanji has a plan. We all travel back to the last car in the chain and get down onto the platform by the door.

We peek through the window to see a bunch of Marines investigating the fallen soldiers Sanji and I took care of. We nod to one another and Usopp raises his fist, knocking on the door. We open the door, Sanji and I on the railing in plain view, while Franky and Usopp peek in from the side.

"Good evening~!"

"Pika pika~!"

Usopp then slams the door as commotion begins inside and he starts nailing the door shut. Franky eyes his hammering and frowns, "Have you ever sued a hammer before? Cause you suck," He comments.

"Shut up!" Usopp hisses. The Marines start banging on the door, making the attempt to hold a nail steady in pouring rain much more difficult than it already is.

"They're gonna break through!" Sanji warns.

"I know!" Usopp exclaims. A few seconds later, things only get worse as gunshots ring out from inside. "They're shooting at us!" Usopp yelps.

"So hurry it up!" Franky yells.

"A little help would be nice!" Usopp counters.

The shooting eventually stops and things seem to quiet down inside...a little too much. I quickly scale Usopp and peek through the window to see- oh sweet Arceus! A giant zombie man carrying a giant ass sword!

I squeal and move back to Sanji's shoulder, pointing frantically to the window, "Pika pikachu!"

Usopp peeks in a yelps, "There's a giant scary guy with a sword coming!"

"Welp, that's our cue," Sanji says. "C'mon!" We hurry back up to the roof and move until we get to the third car from the end. Usopp and Franky jump onto the roof of that train and Sanji and jump down to where the cars are connected.

"Pika-chan, if you would?" Sanji says, while keeping a leg on the door to keep the Marines from getting out.

I smirk and give him a salute, "Pika pi," _'With pleasure,'_ My tail starts to glow and I activate Brick Break. With a flip and a clang, my tail easily smashes through the metal of the chains holding the two last cars to the rest of the train.

Sanji takes his leg off the door as the cars start to slow down leaving us and the rest of the train chugging full speed ahead. I smirk and leap onto Sanji's shoulder as we can hear the outrage from the trapped Marines, and I can't help sticking out my tongue at them.

"See ya later!" Sanji calls mockingly with a wave, "Say hi to the Sea Kings for us!"

"Fare thee well!" Usopp chimes in.

Sanji grins and gives me a pat, "That should cut the small fries down by about fifty or so."

"But aren't Luffy and the others coming on the same railroad?" Usopp asks. "What happens if the cars run into each other?"

Sanji shrugs, "Eh, they'll figure something out."

"Pika," I agree; it's Luffy and Zoro. They'll just...beat it up, or slice and dice it, or something.

"Anyway, let's keep moving," Sanji says. He opens the door, but the second he does, a Marine officer comes flying out, looking like he was trying to kick the door down.

"Oh, going for a swim?" Sanji calls. The officer can only let out a strangled yelp before he falls into the ocean. "Alright," Sanji enters the car, me still on his shoulder, "Five cars to go."

The Marines in the car all charge us, and Sanji darts forward, me leaping off his shoulder with Usopp and Franky following. Sanji kicks and I electrocute while Usopp fires some explosive projectiles. One last wave starts heading my way and sparks fly from my cheeks, but then-

"Strong Right!" My eyes widen as Franky's fist suddenly flies over me while connected to a chain.

"Pika?!" The fist slams into the officers before retracting back to Franky's arm. Okay, I knew this guy had some weird moves and body parts but a fist-and-chain? Definitely didn't see that coming! What even is this guy?!

Sanji and Usopp look just as blown away as I do, but we don't have time to think about it as two more guys approach us, one carrying a giant shotgun. "Hey Lil' Yellow!" I hear Franky and turn; is he talking to me? "Get back!"

I obey and make it behind him just as the shotgun opens fire, nailing Franky right in the chest. "They hit him!" Usopp shrieks. Yeah, but...he's not bleeding. I flinch as the bullets fall to the ground, completely dented and useless; did he just block those things with his bare chest?!

The men frantically keep shooting, but Franky keeps walking forward. He then grabs one of the passenger benches and easily rips it off the floor before tossing it to crush the two remaining officers. Holy shit, and I thought Zoro was ridiculously strong!

"That was crazy!" Sanji exclaims. "What the hell are you?!"

Franky looks back at us, "Oh, guess I forgot to mention, I'm a cyborg." My jaw drops; that's the last thing I expected to run into on this crazy ocean!

"Those are real?!" Usopp exclaims.

"Yep, I got steel and weapons built right into my body," Franky says, a proud grin on his face. "I still bleed and it still hurts to get shot, but it's not a big deal."

Sanji shakes his head, "Just when you think you've seen it all…" You can say that again.

"Awesome!" Usopp exclaims. He runs behind Franky, pulls out a needle, and pokes him in the back.

Franky screams and just about jumps five feet in the air, "What the hell was that for?!" He demands.

Usopp tilts his head, "You can deflect bullets, but needles still hurt?" He asks. Yeah, good point…

"First of all, I'm not a science experiment so quit poking me!" Franky yells. "And second, I had to do this operation on myself so I couldn't reach behind me, so my back isn't like my front! Only my front is cyborg!" Oh, okay; guess even cyborgs have weak points.

"Oh, and while I'm at it, let me show you another little secret!" Franky says, his mood drastically changing. "My belly's always cold; know why?"

"How would we know?" Usopp asks.

Franky then reaches and opens his stomach, revealing a bunch of large cola bottles. "Cause it's also a fridge to keep my Cola cold!"

"Wow, look at that!" Sanji exclaims.

"That must be great in the summer!" Usopp agrees.

"Pikachu!" I say in amazement, leaping back onto Sanji's shoulder. We admire for a few seconds when I blink; isn't there something we're supposed to be doing? I tap Sanji, and all three of them snap out of it.

"The Cola thing is really cool, but we have a job to do!" Sanji says. "Let's get to the next car."

We make our way through and open the door to the next car, revealing...a kitchen? Immediately, we're greeted by a guy with buggy eyes and a creepy smile wearing roller skates, riding around the kitchen on a serving cart.

"I'm Wanze!" The guys says. "It's a mad mad mad mad world and I'm a mad mad mad mad Wanze!"

We all grimace as the guy starts rolling all over the kitchen. Oh Arceus, this is really gonna hurt, isn't it?

The guy, Wanze, skids to a halt right before us, that giant creepy smile still on his face. "What's up you guys?" He greets. "Are you hungry? You look hungry. How about some Ramen? I'm the head steward of this train, so I can cook anything you'd like!" Uh..wha-

"Okay, Ramen it is! But before I start, how about a little trivia for you?" Wait, we didn-

"My nose hairs are shaped like this!" Wanze makes an X with his fingers. "They criss-cross on the inside so they look just like fishnet stockings! This is very important!" Oookaaay…

"First I get the flour!" Oh, is he gonna make noodles from scratch? "And eat it up!"

My ears wilt as he grabs handfuls of flour from a bag and tosses it in his mouth. Once his mouth is full, he begins massaging his cheeks for a few moments. He then gets out a bowl and a pot of hot broth and snorts loudly. I have to cover my mouth with my paw to keep from gagging as the noodles shoot from his nose into the bowl.

"Done!" Wanze announces and hold the bowl out to us. "Here!"

"HELL NO!"

"PIKA!"

Sanji shakes his head and sighs; seeing such a cooking style probably really shook his. "Well that was a waste of time," He says. "Look, we got someone waiting for us Wanze, so you'll have to enjoy that Nose Ramen on your own."

Sanji starts to move forward but Wanze appears in front of him. "Not so fast!" He says. "If you wanna get through this car, you'll have to defeat me first!" Of course, we do; why did I expect anything different?

"You think you can stop us?" Sanji scoffs.

"I know I can!" Wanze says. "This is an important escort mission, so they've gotten important guys like me to keep the train safe! So if you want to rescue that friend of yours, you'll have to defeat my Ramen Kenpo!" Ramen...Kenpo...okay…

"Ramen Kenpo?!" Usopp exclaims.

Wanze then squints his eyes and puckers his lips, "Ramen Kenpo?!" He mocks in a stupid voice.

Usopp flinches in disgust, "That little turd is making fun of me!"

"I know he's annoying, but you've gotta keep your cool!" Sanji exclaims as Wanze starts rolling around on his cart again.

"How'd you like my Idiot Imitation?" Wanze calls. "Was it dumb enough for you?"

Usopp growls and Sanji tries to keep him calm, "Don't let him get to you!"

"This dude got ants in his pants, or what?" Franky mutters, raising his left arm. He twists his forearm, and his wrists slide down revealing four holes, where bullets start to fire. He has guns too? Nice!

However, Wanze just easily slides around on his cart, dodging the bullets without a care in the world. "I swear I grazed him with one of those shots!" Franky says, looking at Wanze's giant smile. "But he doesn't even care; he looks happy!"

Wonze lets out a wheezy breath, "I thought my heart was gonna leap out of my chest!"

"How was I supposed to know?! You make that same stupid face for everything!" Franky yells.

Both Franky and Usopp take a threatening step towards him, but Sanji stops them. "Hold on," He says coolly. "We can't let this clown get under our skin, we've got more important things to do; so just stand back and I'll make quick work of him."

Sanji looks up and glares at Wanze, "Look, I don't know what your deal is, but if you were a real chef, you'd conduct yourself with a bit more dignity." Yeah, I had a feeling this guy would push Sanji's 'cook' buttons.

Wonze doesn't say anything and eventually looks away in confusion. "I'm talking to you, stupid!" Sanji yells, running forward and leaping into a kick that Wanze easily dodges.

"Why don't you take your advice for once!" Usopp and Franky yell, while I facepalm.

"Geez, he dodged that kick without even blinking!" Usopp exclaims. "In fact, he even looks happy about it!" Wait, let me guess…

"I thought I was gonna die!" Wonze squeaks.

"Stop making that damn face!" Franky yells.

"And don't make the same joke twice!" Usopp adds.

"Pika pikachu!" I yell angrily.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the car, Sanji gets to his feet, "I've had enough," He says lowly. "Like I said, this guy is mine." He turns and points to the door. "You three go on ahead, and I'll catch up with you later."

I frown lightly, "Pika…"

"Remember, our top priority is to rescue Robin," Sanji says, shooting me a knowing look. I blink before nodding determinedly; he's right, Robin comes first above everything.

"That's impossible!" Wanze says, grabbing a bag of flour. "I won't let you pass through!" He pours about the whole bag into his mouth and massages his cheeks.

Usopp cringes, "Is he gonna bring out the Ramen noodles again?"

Wanze holds one nostril and aims right at us, "Ramen Beam!" He snorts out a cloud of flour and my instincts scream at me. I bring up my Light Shield around myself and squeak as I feel like someone poked me with a bunch of toothpicks. I open my eyes and realize that ramen noodles as sharp as a nail are sticking in my shield, making small cracks appear.

"Those are sharp!" Franky exclaims as we all duck for cover. Wanze fires barrage after barrage of sharp needles at us until Sanji runs forward with a kick that Wanze barely dodges, but makes him jump away from the door. Sanji gives us a nod, and the three of us head to the door.

"Let's head over on the roof!" Franky says, opening the door.

"Right," Usopp nods, before turning to Sanji. "We'll leave this to you; best of luck."

I nod and give a small salute, "Pika pikachu." _'Kick his noodly ass, Sanji.'_

I follow Usopp and Franky outside, closing the door behind us. "Alright, let's go," Franky says, gesturing to the roof.

"Wait!" Usopp says. "We should take a look and see how far we have to go; give me a boost." Usopp climbs onto Franky's shoulders and I climb onto Usopp's shoulder, both of us overlooking the line of train cars. At least no one seems to be camping out on the roof; now we just have to find Robin.

"This would be a whole lot easier if we knew what car Robin was in," Usopp says softly. "We could infiltrate from the roof and be done in a snap."

"Chu," I agree; but as is typical of the shenanigans we get into, nothing is ever done the easy way.

"Stop muttering and go already you stupid slimy squid king!" Franky grumbles.

"Who are you calling a slimy squid king?!" Usopp snaps. He then freezes and hums in thought, "Slimy squid…" He mutters. "Sticky octopus…" I make a face; what's he thinking?

"Bikini Guy!" Usopp says suddenly. "I've got a brilliant plan!" Hey, back off, Usopp; I'm the one who gives strangers silly names around here!

Usopp climbs down and pulls out two pairs of his octopus shoes, the things he uses to help him climb things when he's fixed the Merry. "With these trusty shoes, I can easily scale the side of these train cars," Usopp explains, sounding as official as he can. "Our yellow companion and I can look in these windows and find the correct train car."

Franky shrugs, "Sounds like a plan," He says. "I'll stay on the roof in case anymore clowns decide to show up."

"Pika," I nod.

Usopp climbs down, me still on his shoulder. "Ready, little one?" He asks me.

"Chu," I say, and Usopp dons his Octo-shoes, putting a pair on his feet and another on his hands.

"Good luck," Franky says, climbing onto the roof and leaving us alone. I tighten my grip on Usopp's shoulder, and he starts to climb along the side of the car, a bit of a shaky start, but he eventually gets a rhythm going.

"Don't let me down, Octo-shoes…" Usopp mutters. Hey, they've never failed before, so here's hoping. I cling to Usopp tightly as we scale the side of each train car until we near the front cars.

I dare to peek out to check the windows and I eventually see a green cloak; that has to be her! "Pika!" I exclaim, pointing to the window.

"Got it!" Usopp nods. He makes his way over and we arrive outside the window safely. Usopp taps on the glass and peeks in, me on Usopp's head. Robin looks out and her eyes widen in shock.

"Pika!" 'Robin!' I exclaim quietly with joy. I'm so glad we found her! But my smile slowly fades as I remember Robin's resolve to be arrested. Now comes the hard part; convincing her to escape with us.

* * *

 **Whenever someone asks just how weird One Piece is, I immediately point to Wanze...cuz wow, what other show can you say has a villain who's main weapon is fucking ramen?**

 **Also, I have a feeling that Robin's backstory may be making its way to Pika-chan's ears very soon, so look forward to feels. Cause we all know Robin's childhood is packed full of them.**


	99. Rescue Robin?

**Haaaaaah sorry about that. Finals are almost here and are kicking my ass. Hopefully Thanksgiving will give me more time, and maybe getting to the action will help too.**

* * *

Thanks to Usopp's tools we were able to make out way through the window and into the car. Usopp stands in the aisle while I jump down to the bench opposite Robin.

"Greetings, madam!" Usopp says with his fake voice. "I hope we're not intruding."

"Pika!" I say with a smile. She still looks okay physically, so that's good.

However, Robin isn't too thrilled. "What's going on?!" She demands angrily. "How did you two even get here in the first place?! Do you know how dangerous this place is?!" I flinch and shrink back at her sharp tone. I think she just beat Nami in the category of 'Scariest Mom Voice'.

"Now ma'am, I can hardly answer if you bombard me with questions like that," Usopp says. He spies a cart holding a silver coffee pot and a bunch of cups. "Let's just take it slow; may I pour you some coffee?"

"Stop fooling around!" Robin snaps. Usopp falls silent and sits next to me on the opposite seat. Robin frowns lightly as she takes in his outfit, "What are you-"

"Greetings; I am Sniper King, King of the Snipers," Usopp says. Robin's frown grows and she looks at me. I give her a small gesture to just roll with it; no point in trying to fight this.

"To make a long story short, we've come to rescue you," Usopp says, me nodding with him.

"You're really serious…" Robin mutters in shock.

"My little friend and I aren't the only ones here," Usopp continues. "Your friend Sanji and a cyborg thug named Franky are currently engaged in combat on this train; and Captain Luffy and the rest of his crew are close behind on another sea train, and I'm told he's bringing a small army."

Robin says nothing, but looks pretty uneasy. I guess she really didn't expect us to bring the whole cavalry to come get her. Usopp keeps talking but I tilt my head as Robin seems to be distracted by something out the window. I follow her gaze, but I see nothing outside. But I blink as a flash of blue flames enter my vision; what was that? I shake my head and turn my attention back to Robin, who's clenching her fists on her lap tightly.

"What's the matter?" Usopp asks. "You don't need to worry about escaping; I made all the necessary preparations." He takes out another pair of octo-shoes and holds them out to her.

"I won't go," Robin says flatly.

"Why not?" Usopp asks. Yeah, I was afraid of this…

"I don't know why you're doing this," Robin says softly before turning to glare at me. "I told you very clearly that I wouldn't see you again! Is that correct, Pikachu?"

I cower slightly, "Pika-" _'Yeah, but-'_

"I said that I would never return to the Straw Hats! How much more clear do I have to make myself?!"

Usopp sighs and gets up, "The situation has changed," He says, his back to her. "They know why you're turning yourself in; that Ice fellow from the shipyard told us everything."

Robin's face seems to light up with relief, "So he did survive…" She pauses and turns away, "But that doesn't change my mind; I won't go with you, no matter what."

"Enough with that already!" Usopp growls, dropping his fake voice. "Don't you get it? They aren't so weak that you need to worry about them!" He exclaims. "What were you thinking?! Accepting such a stupid deal with consulting the rest of the crew!"

Robin's face tightens and I move to sit next to her. "Pika pikachu; pika pika pi!" _'We would never be able to live with ourselves if we let you go like this! If you thought we wouldn't leave you before, we're definitely not leaving you now that we know why you did this!'_

"You just don't get it, do you?" Usopp says firmly. "Luffy and the others will follow you to the depths of hell if they have to, 'cause that's just the kinda guy Luffy is!"

Robin grits her teeth and stands up, "How many times do I have to tell you this?!" She demands. "Even if you think you can save me, I don't want your help! Don't you care how I feel?!" Oh, don't you give me that!

I leap onto the arm of the bench angrily, "Pika pika pikachu chu!" _'C'mon, quit bullshitting us! You know how I get around strong emotions, and I'm reading you like a book right now!'_ I yell. _'Out of all these emotions I'm feeling, not one of them says that you really want us gone! So why don't you tell us how you really feel for once instead of this Ice Queen crap!'_

 _Knock knock knock!_

We fall quiet as someone knocks on the door from the previous car. "Keep it down in there, you!"

The doorknob starts to turn and Robin's face becomes terrified, "Hide, now!" She hisses. She opens her cape and I leap inside, moving to her back and gestures to under the seat for Usopp. Usopp squeaks and scrambles under just in time as the door opens.

I hear footsteps coming towards us and I hold my breath as I hang from Robin's back. "What's the matter; losing your cool as we get closer to Enies Lobby?" A slimy voice answers.

"No, I'm fine," Robin says calmly. The voice doesn't respond, but doesn't move. Why is he just standing there? My ears twitch as I hear soft rustling from under us; oh Arceus...Usopp don't do anything stupid!

"Something wrong?" Robin asks. The man doesn't answer and I hear him start to walk away. But then he stops and I hear him coming back; oh boy.

I hear loud sniffing and Robin starts to lean to the side slightly, "Just like all the Marine Officers, you have extremely bad manners," She says. Wait...is he smelling us? Oh crap, can he smell me?!

"Just doing my job," The man says. I hear more sniffing and he lets out a loud ah-ha. "I knew it; my sense of smell is never wrong!" He exclaims. "Take off that cloak!" Crap; busted!

Just then I hear rustling and I hear Usopp emerge from his hiding place. I peek out ever so slightly from Robin's cloak and see Usopp aiming his slingshot right between a CP9 agent's eyes.

"Whoa, hold on!" The agent cries. "Let's calm down here! You don't think you're going to get away with this, do you?"

"Actually, I do," Usopp says. "You should never underestimate a man who is willing to go the distance." The agent pales and starts running and Usopp fires. There's a small explosion and the agent goes down. Wow, that was definitely one of Usopp's more badass moments; kudos.

Robin gets to her feet and takes off her cloak, allowing me to climb onto her shoulder. "Why did you do that?" She demands.

"Why do you think?" Usopp shoots right back. Yeah, dumb question, Robin. We then look up as we hear a commotion in the next car. Robin's eyes narrow and she takes me off her shoulder, placing me on the ground. My eyes widen as she starts heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?!" Usopp cries. "Aren't the bad guys in there?!" Usopp latches onto her and tries to stop her and I follow, but Robin easily strides forward and opens the door. I quickly hide behind the curtains by the doorway; I've been learning that making myself scarce is pretty hand in the long run, and I have a feeling it'll be a huge advantage with these guys.

"Robin!" Sanji cries happily. "Thank goodness, are you okay?" Robin says nothing while Usopp clings frightfully to her arm.

"So that's Nico Robin?" Franky muses. "She definitely looks like the girl on the wanted poster."

Sanji walks towards her, "Let me knock these guys out then we'll get out of here, okay? It's gonna be alright!" Robin still says nothing and slowly crosses her arms. Arms appear around Usopp and I squeak as he's thrown right at Sanji.

Sanji leaps out of the way just in time, "Robin?!" He exclaims. "What are you doing?!"

Robin's face is dark and tight, but it quickly smooths into a blank stare as her arms vanish. "It would seem that my words mean nothing to you people." An arm suddenly appears behind me and grabs my tail. I squeal as I'm lifted into the air and thrown right at Sanji, who quickly catches me. Dammit, my cover's blown!

Lucci starts to laugh, but then Usopp gets up. "Franky! Detach the third car!"

We all blink, "What?"

"Pika?"

"Why; what are we gonna do?" Franky asks.

"Run." Usopp answers.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sanji asks.

"Get ready, all of you; this will be over in a flash," Usopp says, standing up straight. He gets something out of his bag. "Sniper Kiiiiiiiiing…" He rears back. "Smoke Star!" There's a bang, and the whole car is filled with smoke.

Sanji and Franky and I hurry back to the other car and a few seconds later we see a figure running through the smoke; it's Usopp! And he's holding Robin! "I got her! Move it!" He screeches.

Franky wastes no time and pounds the connector, splitting the cars apart. The CP9 car is quick to speed off, leaving us behind. "Yes! We did it!" Usopp cheers. "We got Robin back!" I sigh in relief and jump out of Sanji's grip, moving to where Usopp and Robin are; thank goodness that didn't go horribly wrong.

Usopp sighs and puts a hand on my head, "Sniper King says, the plan that involves not fighting scary bad guys is the best plan of all." I roll my eyes and push his hand off my head, and Sanji lights a cigarette.

"Doubtful," Sanji says. "Besides that was too easy."

"Yeah, we shouldn't let our guard down just yet," Franky agrees. Just then, a bunch of spiky whips lash out and grab onto the car. Speak of Giratina and he shall appear! Or...I guess in this case, they shall appear!

Kalifa holds onto the ends of the whips and hands them off to Blueno, who starts easily pulling us back. The car jerks as we're pulled, causing me to roll under one of the seats. In no time, we're right back behind the car and Blueno grabs onto it, acting as a new connector for the cars. "Did you really think a smokescreen would stop us?" Well, it was worth a shot.

"Now remember," Lucci says. "Don't harm any of the Straw Hats; that was our bargain." I don't know if I'm impressed or annoyed that these guys actually have the honor to hold up their end of this deal they forced Robin into.

"Hey, Sniper King," Sanji says. "Protect Robin with your life, got it?"

"Uh, right!" Usopp says quickly.

Sanji starts running towards Blueno, readying a kick, but it barely makes him flinch. Oh yeah, that weird iron armor thing they have! "I told you, these guys use some weird moves!" Franky calls.

Sanji balances on his hand and starts spinning, building up more and more speed. "Concassé!" He yells and slams his leg into Blueno. This time, Blueno actually grunts and moves, his grip loosening on the car slightly; whoa, he actually hurt him!

"That was a pretty powerful kick," Kaku observes. Sanji jumps back and gets ready to go in for another blow, and I'm about to join him, but Usopp cries out, catching our attention.

"Now, Ocho Fluer!" Robin says, crossing her arms and making arms appear all around Usopp. "And with a Clutch!" I flinch as Usopp is bent backwards and a crack is heard. She...she actually used Clutch on him! What the hell?!

"Robin, what are you doing?!" Sanji exclaims as Usopp falls to the ground.

"Didn't you hear me?!" Robin yells. "Stay out of my business and leave me alone!"

"This can't be…" Sanji mutters.

"Hey buddy," Kaku leaps towards Sanji. "You should learn to pay attention." Before any of us can blink, Kaku kicks Sanji across the car and he lands on the bench I'm under, crushing it. I squeal as I'm about crushed by wood, metal, and Sanji's weight and the breath is knocked out of me.

Franky growls, "You Straw Hats are nuts! You're all so stubborn, especially when it comes to saving your friends!" He places his palms on the front wall of the car, "Well, we've made it this far, so here's your chance to escape!"

My eyes widen as Franky puts his head on the wall and starts to push. The whole car starts to shake, and in a matter of seconds, there's a creaking as the car starts to crack. Franky roars and with a loud crack, the whole front wall of the car breaks off, breaking our connection with the other car. We slow to a stop as Franky flies into the other car with CP9 while the wall sinks into the ocean.

"Pika!" _'Franky!'_ I yell in horror.

The car shrinks out of sight, but we see Franky get up. "Hey, listen! Get out of here and don't worry about me!" Franky yells. " I have a plan! When you meet up with Straw Hat, find a way to get back to Water 7!"

"Franky!" Usopp cries.

I don't even have time to register his sacrifice when Robin steps forward, "Wait! I'm not trying to escape, I won't run!" She calls after them. Robin, seriously! You don't have to protect us like this!

"Cut it out, already," Sanji says, getting to his feet. "There's no point in trying to pretend anymore; we know what you did and we came here to rescue you!" Robin says nothing. "It doesn't matter if they Buster Call us; we'll fight them and win!" Sanji keeps going. "There's no reason for you to keep obeying them just to throw your life away!"

My ears twitch and I hear the sound of a door opening. Shit! I forgot about the guy who can make doors! The Door Door Fruit!

"You're wrong," Blueno says. "If there's a Buster Call, you'll be eliminated." Sanji can only turn around, his eyes wide with shock. "Tempest Kick!" Blueno's leg swings up, making an arc of energy, and Sanji is sent flying.

"Sanji!" Usopp cries. I bite my tongue to keep from screaming and Sanji skids to a halt right next to the water. Blueno slowly walks towards them and Usopp steps up, slingshot at the ready, but we blink, and Blueno's gone. What?! He can make doors that fast?!

I start to run out to warn him, but Robin flicks her hand, making a hand hold me in place; what the hell?! What is she-

My question is answered as Blueno emerges from another door behind them, wraps his arm around Robin and gives Usopp two Finger Pistols; one to the chest and another to the stomach, making Usopp collapse. I shiver and Robin's hand disappears; I'm no match for this guy, even by himself! And I'm guessing Robin knows that.

"Usopp!" Sanji starts running back towards Blueno and raises his leg.

"Iron Body."

Sanji's kick doesn't even make Blueno flinch, and the larger man grabs Sanji's ankle and slams him on the floor before throwing him next to Usopp. Sanji coughs and tries to get up; Blueno starts towards him and I'm about to throw all caution to the wind to throw myself between them, but Robin's arms link around Blueno. "Stop it!" She cries. "I promise, I have no intention of running away; I'll honor the deal, you don't have to hurt them!"

"They're the ones who keep attacking me," Blueno says.

"Then let's hurry and leave before they get up again," Robin urges, her arms disappearing. She turns to the door and I creep up so I'm right next to Robin's feet under the remaining seats; I'm gonna have to be extra sneaky here.

"Wait…" Usopp rasps, slowly getting to all fours. "It's alright Robin...we'll be fine...I think I finally understand now…" He says. "You're still hiding something from us...aren't you?" I feel the smallest wave of regret from Robin. "But there's still...one thing you can do…" Usopp says softly. "...Believe in Luffy…"

My eyes widen; so does Usopp really still believe in us? Even after everything?

 _Bang!_

I flinch as Blueno just about stomps on Usopp, crushing him into the floor. Robin slowly turns away and walks through the door, sorrow and regret coming off her in waves.

"No, Robin…" Sanji grunts, trying to get up. "Don't go…"

"You can say what you like to her; she won't break our agreement," Blueno says.

Sanji glares up at him, "How do you know that?" He growls.

"Long ago...an island was erased." My eyes widen in horror as Blueno explains that when Robin was just a little girl, a Buster Call was issued against her home island. She was the only survivor, and because of that, she now fears the power of the Buster Call with all her being.

So that's why they decided to use a Buster Call against us! I thought it was fishy to use such a giant wave of power against one pirate ship! They just used it so Robin would do what they said without question!

"You bastard…" Sanji growls. "You knew...and you used her fear against her…"

I can't believe this...what kind of twisted people would use something so traumatizing to force a person to do something?! This is just as low as taking a family member hostage, maybe even lower! Robin was just a kid; she watched all her friends and family die and they have the gall to threaten her with this?!

"Of course we did," Blueno says and starts walking towards the door.

"This is sick…" Sanji mutters. "You people are sick, you hear me?!"

"It is all for the sake of justice," Blueno says. Exploiting fear in the name of justice...that's not justice it's just cruelty! Beyond that even! Just because you call it justice doesn't mean it is!

Blueno starts heading through the door and Sanji starts running after him. My eyes narrow as soon as the door starts to close. I emerge from my hiding spot and triple my speed. I vanish for an instant before I manage to slip inside the door. I manage to steal a glance at Sanji before the door closes.

It takes me a split second to realize where the door takes us. It's the other half of the train. It takes me another half second to use my remaining speed to dive under the train seats. I stay perfectly still, not even daring to breathe until I'm certain none of them have seen me. I watch as Robin's feet slowly move to the other side of the car and Lucci tells her to take a seat.

I quickly scamper under the seats until I'm at the very front, facing the door. Thankfully, I'm on the left side of the car so I'm facing the doorway when it opens. Robin's already through the door so I'll have to wait for another opportunity. Luckily, Franky quickly follows her and I slip through the door at the very last second, darting under another seat.

Robin and Franky take seats in opposite aisles and I slowly move towards them; Robin's gonna kill me for stowing away with her, but it has to be done. Robin's part of my crew, and someone's gotta keep an eye on her.

* * *

 **#CP9isfuckingevilandIhatethem**

 **Writing Pika-chan in Stealth Mode is kinda getting old now...and it doesn't help that this chunk is mainly exposition and dialogue. I WAS tempted to just have Pika-chan stay with Sanji and Usopp, but I reeeeaaaaally wanna get moving and get to Enies Lobby already and not have to write all the Straw Hat stuff. I love you, Straw Hats, but you ramble WAY too much. Plus, Pika-chan needs to hear the details of Robin's backstory SOMEHOW. The Straw Hat Therapist needs ALL the info in order to administer proper mental care. It's just Pika-chan's job. X3**


End file.
